A New Adventure: Lost and Found
by NemoAves
Summary: Things are stirring in the dark. There is someone new in the land of Ooo and they have business with Finn. Read to find out what. Now Multi-chapter. read and review All feedback welcome.
1. Found

_Was to stay a one-shot but my character wanted her story told._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Newly revised first chapter! To all those who decide to follow this crazy ride with me may the odds be ever in your favor! Mahal and Glob take the wheel!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even my character. She is her own person now. Haha_

Prelude- A look ahead

She looked at the ocean around her and her little boat, nothing but salty liquid beneath her and cloudless, sunny skies above her. She checked her provisions, she was running low.

"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Heh." Chuckling at her own, slightly crazed joke she checked the various repairs on the hull of her small vessel, they were holding for now. Her once tattered, old cloth sails now filled with patches of slick, yet strong blue skin. Various parts of her boat now had chunks of bone wedged between them or in the paneling.

The young woman muttered a "Damn sea beast." and chuckled again as she patted the skull and claws that made the figure head of her boat.

She sat down with a tired sigh.

Her clothes were faded and in tatters, her skin tanned and peeling in places. She had to stay smart, she had to make it. She had to find him. She brushed her blonde bangs out of her face and looked through her binoculars.

Nothing but horizon to the east.

Nothing but sea and sky to the south.

Nothing but the endless curve of the earth to the west, and to the north…

_There! A dark smudge in the distance, could it be? The Fabled Lost Land of Magic and Monsters? The Land of Ooo? Doesn't matter, its land!_

She jumped up, reinvigorated, and tested the air.

Yes!

A favorable wind was starting to pick up after weeks of stillness, this was it. She opened her sails and took position at the rutter, steering her boat toward that smudge with the help of her compass. Soon the smudge was visible with her naked eyes, with a little fumbling she looked through her binoculars again. She could make out a bit of the land before her now: various peaks and what she hoped was a sandy beach shrouded in a mist.

_Odd…_

Her smile was wide, and hurt her cracked and sun-exposed lips.

_I hope you're here brother, I hope your well._

"It's time for an adventure." She whispered.

One-Found

Finn laughed at Jake while he did some funny dance moves with BMO. Today so far had been a good day, he had an absolutely mathematical dream about being a hero with Jake and Flame Princess at his side and had an awesome heroic breakfast of sausages and eggs with his brother. Now he was just hanging until it was time for Jake and him to pick up FP for some trio adventuring. He looked at the clock and then got up and made his way to the door,

"Hey Jake, it time to pick up FP." he called. The magical dog stopped and turned to the still grooving little robot.

"Cool, alright see ya BMO; don't get into anything too bananas while we're away!" Jake made his way to the door and followed Finn out while BMO called out an affirmative to stay out of trouble and continued to dance to his own soundtrack.

Both laughed at his antics as they closed and locked the door and headed off. They walked with their usual cheerful silliness, making jokes and simply enjoying the sunshine as they walked to Finn's girlfriend's house. Their mood was abruptly killed when they got there for outside her house was Flame Princess, doing her best to fight off some odd rock golems. There were quite a number of them and although the young fire elemental was holding her own very well it was obvious she was in need of assistance for her opponents didn't seem very fazed by fire. She just kept shooting wave after wave of flames at them yet all it did was knock them over, their outer surfaces barely glazing over from the heat. The two heroes immediately kicked into action.

With a heated cry of "Hey! Don't be messing with my lady!" Finn grabbed his sword and charged into the fray, Jake right behind him and growing in size so he could start trashing the rock golems.

Flame Princess gave an excited shout at seeing them and with renewed vigor, fought off the golems. And at first it seemed they would win when the golems began breaking under the combined efforts of the heroes. But suddenly the rocks started reforming into new golems and they fought with never wavering vigor. It seemed as if they might be over run.

"Finn, man things are getting crazy here, we need to retreat!" yelled Jake just as a rock golem punched him in the leg.

"Ow!" He cried.

Finn grunted, acknowledging his brother's point and noticing how Flame Princess, despite her grand love of the battle and destruction of all things evil, was obviously getting tired of this fight and visibly exhausted. But then a shout rang out in the air, every one (including the golems) turned in surprise just in time to see a cloaked figure join the fray and start demolishing golems. But instead of just breaking them (which they managed to do with a single hit from a thick sword) they also smashed a small blue stone that Finn hadn't noticed fall out of the golems before. He noticed that once said stone was destroyed, the rocks no longer moved.

He turned to his friends who had gone back to fighting "Hey! Do was this guy is doing! Smash the blue stones!" They heeded his words and soon all of the golems were gone and only rocks remained. They then turned to the figure who was standing still, watching them, breathing heavily with their sword held limply in their gauntleted hand at their side. Now that he was able, Jake took a good look at their sudden "ally".

They wore a thick looking dark green jacket with the hood up, this obscured their face but he spied some bits of blonde hair straying out into the sun. The stranger was rather tall, at least taller than Finn by half a foot by the looks of it and lean and female is he was not mistaken. That jacket was thick and looked a little big but did not hide their gender very well. The woman- he now saw- also wore black pants with black boots and a dark blue backpack.

Jake squinted his eyes as he –and FP he idly noticed- shrank down to normal size and went to stand by Finn, who was closest to the female. "Uh thanks for the help. Who are you by the way?"

"Yeah, what he said." Stated FP, on guard for anything, you could never be too careful in the land of Ooo. But the figure just chuckled as she sheathed her weapon, not at all insulted or intimidated.

"Oh yes, I guess it is about that time to introduce myself." She said. Then she lifted her hands to her hood, revealing blonde bangs and bright blue wavy hair swept back into a pony tail and a distinctly human looking face. She smiled at their collective gasps,

"Yes, yes. Hello, I am Bethilda Mertens the Human. But you can just call me Beth."

"Another human! Finn, I can't believe this brother! You're not alone!" Jake was ecstatic, his buddy finally found another of his species, now he wouldn't feel so alone like he knew he did sometimes, no matter how much the young teenager tried to hide it. Flame princess simply stared at the now dancing dog and shell shocked water elementals- humans, she corrected herself; her boyfriend was a human.

"…..Your name is Finn?" Although the young woman's voice was small, just barely above a whisper, the desperate hope within her tone brought the others out of their thoughts and stopped Jake's dancing. Hesitantly Finn stepped forward and answered in the affirmative.

"Yes, I am Finn the Human, formally the last Human in Ooo and a Great Adventurer." His tone was serious and cautious; Jake was concerned but curious to see what happened next. And of course Finn would never call himself a hero (even though he was) just an _adventurer_.

Tears began to appear in the corners of the woman's eyes, "I have been searching for you for weeks! Finn….I know you won't remember me but I'm your big sister!" They all gasped once again, none so more than Finn.

"What?! B-but that's not- how- when?!"

The poor guy was flabbergasted, how could this be? He already had brothers, how could he suddenly have a sister? A Human sister at that?! It was almost too good to be true. The young woman- Beth- took a step forward but at the automatic step back that Finn made caused her to pause. But there was no hurt on her face, just sad understanding. The others around her young brother-she could just tell it was her little bro from the face, he looked just like dad as a boy- were simply silent until the two humans started to move. Suddenly the little orange dog-Jake was his name right? - was pushing the boy and flame using girl behind him and puffing up his size to be eye level with Beth.

"Hold on there, what you're saying is bananaz! My parents found Finn alone when he was just a baby, if you're his _supposed_ big sister where were you?" Last human or not, Jake wasn't about to let this lady get away with anything.

Beth protested desperately, "I can prove it!" and briefly dug in her jacket pocket before producing a much abused laminated photo. Jake took it and backing himself, the still shocked Finn, and the silently observing princess of flames away a few steps he held the photo up so all three of them could see. The picture was of a small family, a group of four.

There was a middle aged man in the photo wearing adventurers' clothes in tones of blue and red and had long, wavy brown hair tied back in a ponytail. On his face was a large daring smile surrounded by an epic short beard, cleanly combed and with a few braids. He looked what Finn would look like in another twenty years and a dye job. In his arms he held a brightly grinning little girl; she wore a dark green, sturdy looking dress with what looked like black leggings and boots. Her hair was an odd two-tone of blond bangs and golden brown hair, her face like a miniature version of the owner of the photo. Next to the happy pair was a smiling woman with Beth's face and shining blonde hair cropped stylishly short. She also wore adventurers' clothes in orange and black tones, in her arms was an adorable young baby boy wrapped in a baby-blue cloth and a little white hat over his head. It was a tad too big, allowing for just a tuft of gold hair to sneak out. His smile was one Jake would recognize anywhere.

"Whooooaaaa…" The dog was speechless, it was true.

The almost crying woman before them really was Finn's long lost sister. He heard a sniffle next to him and turned his head see Finn barely containing his tears. "Finn-"He stated but was interrupted by the young man by his side.

"I-I'm okay brother, g-give me that" Taking the photo from Jake's paw Finn walked over to Beth, he stopped just a step away from her and stared. A million questions swirled in his head and a weight he had never realized he held was lifting off his shoulders. He handed the photo back to Beth and she immediately folded it and put it back in her pocket. A small smile came to his face and he stepped forward, embracing the now audibly weeping woman before him.

"Finn!" she cried, burying her face into the fabric of his hat. "He sis." He said softly, silent tears falling from his eyes as he felt her arms wrap around him. A sense of unfamiliar familiarity settled within him. He rested his head on her shoulder and took a deep breath, taking in the smell of another of his race. After a few minutes Beth was reduced to just sniffles and she pushed them apart enough so they could face each other.

"I know you have a lot of questions, and I'll do my best to answer them all."

He grinned, "All in good time. For now let me introduce you." Turning in her embrace-it seemed he was as reluctant as her to reduce contact- he pointed to the flabbergasted dog.

"This is Jake, my adopted brother and best bud in all of Ooo." He turned to girl she now realized was made completely of flame, not just using flames. "And this is my girlfriend, Princess of the Fire Kingdom, Flame Princess or FP for short."

She was cute, _way to go bro_.

Both of Finn's friends waved as they were introduced and smiled a little, both humans looked so happy. Still grinning Finn broke out of Beth's embrace to take her hand and start pulling her forward.

"Come on! You need to come see our home; it's an awesome tree house! Well give you're a big tour, right Jake?" The dog had seemed to break out of his astonishment and was all curling, shifting energy, "Right! And she can meet BMO!"

"Right! And then you can tell us everything! Come on." He was grinning so much right now. Finally! Finally he would know, and now he had one more ally to add to the team. He tugged a bit harder of Beth's arm in his excitement and continued to go on about everything she'd see and what they would do. She sighed, not at all bothered by her brother.

_Her brother_, oh thank the goodness of the world for allowing her to achieve her goal after her long journey. She looked off to the right to see the flame girl standing a tad awkwardly to the side, making no move to follow them, a frown on her face. Finn noticed just as she did.

"Come on FP! You're a part of this too!"

Beth smiled as the small frown on the girl's face turned into a small grin and she quickly caught up with the group, taking a place next to Beth. She smiled and said "Nice to meet you." A little shyly.

Still smiling, Beth said "Nice to meet you too" and they both laughed as Finn tugged on her arm again to gain their attention. And the group made their way down the road, toward the next big adventure.


	2. The Old World

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am just writing this for fun. Enjoy_

_Newly revised second chapter!_

Two

BMO sat on the couch, just enjoying the silence and the feeling of Bubble's presence all around the little robot. Electronic eyes opened when he heard the sounds of excitement from Finn and Jake outside.

_'Huh?'_ He looked at the clock, they couldn't be back from adventuring so soon. Usually his friends were gone all day when they took that flame girl with them. But now it had barely been maybe three hours at most. And they weren't alone; he could hear two female voices following them. One of which he didn't recognize.

He sat up and watched as the company climbed the wooden stairs that lead to the main loft of the tree house. "…you climb the ladder to get to our living room here". BMO looked at the woman Finn was obviously giving a tour to and stared.

"Finn, who is that?" She looked like Finn.

The boy grinned, "BMO this is my just found sister Beth. Beth, this is BMO."

"Oh wow, what a cute little robot! Hello there little fellow."

She smiled and crouched to be eye-level, despite her time in this land she was always amazed to find technology. Not only did they have cell phones-something other parts of the world with humans did not- but also little automatons as well. It was like she was in a work of fiction or something.

BMO stared, "You are Finn's real sister? A human?"

"Yup" came the simple reply and then suddenly a photograph was put before the robot's face. It only took him a moment to analyze the picture and see the resemblance. He looked up and smiled "Oh! I see it, nice to meet you then Beth."

The young woman smiled right along with him, "Likewise little man."

Finn grinned, if BMO liked her, then it really was safe to like her.

"Come on I'll show you the rest of the house." Jake made his way to the kitchen area as the two humans began to move about the tree house, Flame Princess behind him.

"Uh Finn, you give the tour and I'll make some tea. " It had started to cloud over on their way back, the clouds having that particularly weird sheen to them that promised a cold knife storm was soon to start. Also the big conversation they were going to have felt like it deserved some hot drinks to go with it.

"Kay, give me some of your special tea." So green tea with a lot of sugar for Finn, he always liked that one. BMO walked into the kitchen then and took a seat, not wanting to be left out. As he sat he gave a negative to any tea when asked. Jake then turned to Beth as she sat her pack and broad sword on the ground. "Tea?"

"Yes, do you have green? I like it with a bit of sugar."

He blinked and watched her take off her gauntlets; her hands were as slim and strong looking as the rest of her. "You got it." Jake turned to FP who was now sitting at the kitchen table; she turned from watching Finn to Jake.

"None for me thank you". She gave a small smile and Jake smiled back. He liked her more now that she had mellowed out and acted a bit more….well more human. Jake put the kettle on and set out three mugs, he was going to have some jasmine tea that Lady Rainicorn had given him. He turned from the counter in time to see Finn and Beth leave up the ladder to the second floor.

He turned to Flame Princess, "So what do you think of her?" The fiery girl looked contemplative for a few moments and said, "She seems good, like Finn. The air in her core is just as pure." Jake stared at her for a moment.

"Right…"

It was then the kettle started to whistle and he thankfully turned to attend to the tea, FP may act more like a person but she was still an elemental being on the inside.

Just as Jake was putting the steaming mugs on the table Finn and Beth headed back into the room, "And finally here is the kitchen where meals and conversations happen." The woman laughed, Finn had made little comments like that the entire time. "You have an awesome house Finn, I'm impressed." Finn smiled at the praise and gave a small hoot.

Jake took a seat at the table and grabbed his mug. "You guys are just in time, the blue is Finn's and the light green one is yours Beth. Now take a seat and let's have some explaining happen!" everyone chuckled at Jake's attempt to lighten the mood. When all were seated all attention was turned to Beth.

She took a sip of tea and asked "Where should I start?"

Finn thought for a moment, "How about from the very beginning? Where all the other humans? Why was I left here in Ooo and it took you so long to come find me?"

He bit his tongue to keep from talking, now that he had the chance all the questions wanted to spill out of his mouth but he knew asking them all in a rush would not help him to finding who he was and where he came from.

Beth gave a small nod, she could see how her brother felt, "Very well, from the start it is then; get comfy because this is a _long story_. All of you know of the Great Mushroom War correct?"

It was Jake who answered, "Yeah…wait, do you know what started it?" Everyone's gaze intensified at that statement, that was knowledge no one knew or at least no one admitted to knowing. It was common knowledge that the world changed around a thousand years ago, but no one knew the why.

Or even the how.

Beth's expression turned a bit grim and she shook her head, "All real knowledge of the War and the World Before has long been lost, only bits and pieces remain. I don't know how the war began other than that a Great Evil began to spread around the earth. People and countries began to be distrustful of one another and looked to arm themselves with greater and greater powers of science. Natural disasters were becoming more frequent: freak winter storms like mini ice ages, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. The world didn't feel safe anymore and this caused the hearts of the people to darken more and more, feeding the intangible, destructive force that was covering the world."

She paused to take a sip of cooling tea; everyone was transfixed by her words and was silent. You could hear the knife storm beginning outside.

The deep *thunks* telling Jake they would find a good harvest of daggers later when it stopped.

"So then what happened?"

"Well there are several versions of the _what_, _who_, _when_, and _how_ specifically, but it is all agreed that a great power had been discovered or developed in one of the more powerful countries to the West. They then threatened their equals that if they did not stop their doings and work for a peace the country would "police" the world and make them. Of course the other nations didn't like being threatened so they starting making or searching for their own great powers. Well eventually a scientist for one of the threatened leading governments in the East managed to harness a great power: the malice that was currently flooding the world with the use of old, dark rituals."

Finn furrowed his brow, "Dark rituals? Like evil magic?" He had barely touched his tea. He didn't know why but this particular bit reminded him of the Lich. A great mass of ancient evil, brought from the very planet to use against itself.

_…hmmm. _

Beth's own brows furrowed, "I don't know, no one knows if it was some deep, black magic or some evil science. My guess is a mix of both, considering he managed to harness the essence of the peoples' evil; the scientist managed to complete his project and now there were two great forces in the world. A great rift in society occurred; almost everyone joined one of two great sides, every-where the world was tense. But then a third much smaller fraction to the North joined in but waving the white flag of peace, these people claimed to have found something that would disable not only the other countries' powers but also any other great weapons around the earth. They would put it to use effective immediately if talks didn't begin."

"She took another sip of tea, "But it's here things get muddy, although it is known that the various governments of the world agreed to talk they never did. No one knows who fired first or if it was purposeful or by accident, but one of the great two sides released their power upon the peaceful fraction. The other side followed suit and the final side had no choice but to try to save themselves, barely anyone survived. All of these energies mixed and exploded upon the world changing it forever. Barely any life remained; those people who survived did what they could to rebuild and live in peace, having learned their heavy handed lesson. But then some time later a great Ice Age covered the world and went on until about hundred years ago."

She made another pause to rest her throat and took another gulp of now lukewarm tea.

"So…what did the humans do? Where are they now? " This came from the flame girl on Beth's right side.

"Those who could do it, survived; people made livings whatever way was available where ever it was available. The old connections were dead and gone. If you were a person then you mattered. Eventually little pockets of humanity were made around the world and started to grow. When the ice and snow finally began to thaw humans began exploring the world again, discovering old technology and the new world they lived in. The ice had changed everything, seas were now larger or smaller, deserts now tundra. Some old countries were still in ice and snow and are totally uninhabitable to this day. Many humans began to make a living of discovering this new world and its secrets, for no one knew why the world had changed anymore. No one knew why the people of old couldn't just stop. That's where you and I come in Finn."

The young man blinked at this, "How so?"

"Well, you see our parents were a part of these people, they were adventurers, heroes. They're the ones who discovered the records regarding the third peaceful country and their hand in the Mushroom War. It was _their_ theory that if it wasn't for these brave people and their power _no_ life at all would have persisted. Our planet would just be a dead ball of rock in space. Their pushing of listening to this tale as a warning solidified pacts with almost all the new countries on earth."

They all stared, "You're kidding." was Jake's flabbergasted reply.

"Not at all, I have their notes and newspaper clippings to prove it." Resisting the strong urge to ask for this evidence Finn asked "So what happened? Why was I l-left here and you had to find me? Why do you keep talking of them like they're…no longer living?"

Beth turned to her young brother and took his slightly shaking hand, "That's because they aren't alive anymore. Or at least that's what the human world thinks anyway. Finn, you and I come from the small community of Lupe of the nation of Leopoldine on practically the other side of the globe. It is what is left of those long-ago people from the North and some of the West."

"Dad had traveled very far in his time as an explorer and had managed to go farther than any other before him with the help of Mom at his side. Together they started to investigate this part of the world and that's when they heard of the land of Ooo from the small numbers of people who scrabbled to survive. This mythical place of beasts and magic seemed more like fairy tales to them. But Dad found evidence that there could be such a land and so he proposed to the leaders of his country to fund an expedition to go see it. But they didn't want to risk or waste Dad on what they considered to be a wild goose chase. So Dad, like the determined man he was, did all he could to convince them to let him and Mom go. He could never let go of an adventure once he got a taste of it. "

Her hands were trembling now and water pricked her eyes. Finn squeezed her hand in measly reassurance; he wasn't feeling so great either. Flame Princess, BMO and Jake just sat there, trying to absorb everything they had heard and trying not to interrupt with questions. Jake couldn't help but look at his brother in some awe, if this was all true Finn was truly meant to be a hero and adventurer.

Giving a watery smile to the group Beth continued, "Dad tried for years to go, but by the time he succeeded in getting permission and funding he had married his traveling companion- our mother- and had started a family. I was five and you had just been born. This didn't bother him a bit for our grandpa had taken our dad on many expeditions as a child- or so he told me. Mom didn't want to take us, thinking it would be too dangerous but Dad wouldn't hear of it. He didn't want his family _torn apart_."

The irony was not lost on anyone in the room. BMO made a small whimper and Jake placed a comforting hand on his head/body. Beth quickly dug in her pocket and took out her much abused picture and placed it on the table. She pointed at it, "This is the first and last picture we had together as a family, it was taken the day we left._ 'To commemorate the start of a fabulous adventure!' _Dad had said. And up until we had reached the ocean that separates this land from the rest of the world it had been. When we got into the water it was a whole different story, raging storms, crazy sea monsters and whirlpools were everywhere. I don't know how we managed to survive or how Mom didn't make Dad turn around, I guess she had become as obsessed with finding Ooo as he had. But that wasn't the worst of it. No that happened when we had almost reached this place, we were stuck in the middle of yet another storm. The boat we were in barely managing to stay afloat in the crazy waves all around us. Lightening flashed, winds raged and water was all around us.

I was holding you and huddled in the corner while our parents fought to survive when it happened. Lightening had struck our boat cutting it in half, our parents ran to us but in all of the confusion of the quickly breaking boat we separated again but this time with you and Dad on one part of the boat and Mom and I on the other. It was then that a large burst of water came between us and started pushing the two halves in separate directions, you and Dad toward land and Mom and I back toward the sea. There was nothing any of us could do, the last we saw of you two was Dad holding on to the boat and you for dear life while shouting out our names and saying he would meet us in Ooo. You were screaming for dear life in his arms. Mom and I held on as we were practically pushed back the way we came, the storm seeming determined to take us away. The rest is a blur, nothing but water, and thirst and Mom going mad from sadness and worry for our family.

That storm was not normal, even after it had mostly ended the clouds and winds did not go away or weaken for days afterward, we could do nothing but wait it out for it to stop. When it finally did stop we found ourselves near this little coast line on the side of the sea. We drifted until some fishermen found us and dragged us to shore, Mom and I were half starved, dehydrated and she was nursing a nasty cut on her side. The first aid kit had been on your side of the boat. The people of the small village we were at did all they could but they couldn't save Mom. I was lucky that she had managed to keep her water proof backpack with her. Inside were all of their notes and identification of who I was and who they were. The villages knew Dad and where he had come from his last trip there so they managed to contact the authorities of our nation and I was picked up by an expedition party. They brought us back, Mom was laid to rest and I was given over to our grandpa on our dad's side. I vowed that when I was old enough I would come back and find you guys, I knew you and Dad would survive. Dad would protect you and you would live. Seems I was half right."

She gave a small crooked grin at that. Finn could only stare, dumbfounded. "I have a grandpa?"

"_Had_, unfortunately; the man was so heartbroken over what happened he made me promise to not do any adventuring until he was dead, that was about a year ago. After it happened I closed up everything, told everyone important where I was going and left the country before any authorities could stop me. I had to know, or die trying. And I'm glad I did." She grabbed Finn's other hand then and squeezed both his hands; he gave a small, sad smile back at her.

"I'm glad too sister." The two humans then had another quick embrace. Both Jake and BMO sniffled. Flame Princess looked on, watching the range of emotions flitter between everyone in the room and herself as well.

"What were their names?" Beth turned to Flame Princess, as if she didn't know what she was asking. But then realization spread across her face.

"My-our parents were Nadine and Abelard Mertens."


	3. Mertens

_Chapter 3! Please tell how the story is going so far._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: All I own are the details not seen in the show, Enjoy!_

_Newly revised chapter!_

Three

Mertens.

So he had a last name. Well other than Dog, the name he had gotten from Joshua and Margaret Dog. The subject of names made Finn suddenly think of something, "Hey, how is it you knew my name? Mom and Dad gave me my name when they found me. Did your-our parents give me the same one?"

Beth had to think a moment to decipher that Finn meant the parents he shared with Jake before understanding the question. The language they spoke here was still slightly off to her, it sounded like the Common Speech or "English" that most areas of the world shared but was different in a number of places. It still threw her from time to time.

"No, actually you didn't have a name when you were lost. There is a tradition in Lupe that infants are not given a name until their first birthday. You were almost one when we got to the sea so our parents never got a chance to name you. If they did have a name in mind, they never told me. The reason I know your name is because I was told it. All I had to do was ask if there were any people-human specifically- and I was told of 'Finn the Great Hero and Last Human in Ooo'. Your pretty famous here brother."

She laughed and gave Finn a soft punch on the arm. He gave a humble laugh, "Well I guess so."

Jake took another drink of his tea, he had been slowly sipping it throughout Beth's narrative and had now finished. He then asked "But when you first found us you said you had been searching for weeks. If everyone you met pointed you to where we were why did it take you so long?" Although the land of Ooo was of a decent size and full of all sorts of danger Beth made it sound as if it was easy to locate them.

The woman nodded her head in understanding, "Well the fact is I didn't exactly have the best time at sea or on land, this one particular monster would just not leave me alone! I had to straight slaughter it to be left in peace. But that's a story for later." No one could really hide their disappointment at not hearing the tale but there were more important things to discuss.

"Anyway the fact is that after I finally made it to this blasted place I was in no shape to really travel fast or far. My supplies and strength were low and I had no idea where I was. I only found out later I had landed on the south east side of the country. I managed to anchor and hide my boat before that first night set in so I had to wait till the next day to set off for food and hopefully friendly people. I was lucky enough to run into this nice young woman who went by the name of Huntress Wizard; she quickly became my first friend in this land. Anyway she helped me get back on my feet after my horrible time in that _cursed_ ocean and helped outfit me in the gear you see me wearing now. The clothes I had traveled in were completely ruined. Except for the backpack, that was Mom's. "

Jake narrowed his eyes, "Wait, Huntress Wizard helped you?"

Finn looked at his brother, "You know her Jake?"

"I know _of_ her, and she doesn't really team up with anyone."

"Oh, she told me that and that I _'Really was lucky' _she was impressed by my efforts and decided to help me. _'One legend should help another'_ She shook her head as if thinking of a funny, fond memory. "Anyway all I had to do was ask around and I eventually made my way to where I found you guys earlier today. Even with Huntress by my side it was really hard to travel easily through this place. Every corner can lead to another adventure and treasure whether you want to have one or not."

Finn laughed at that, for it really was true. But then his brows furrowed, "Hey if Huntress Wizard was traveling with you, why were you alone when you showed up today?"

Beth gave a small huff and rolled her eyes. "Huntress left me about twenty minutes before I found you saying she had some other _'business'_ to attend to and to give her a call when all the _'sappy reunion time was over'_." She gave a small laugh now. In the time she had known her, Huntress never seemed to like overly emotional moments. Quiet, subdued moments were almost always more her thing.

The mood began to lighten then, as the group encouraged Beth to tell more stories of her adventures through Ooo and her friendship with one of the more reclusive people it had to offer. She started with her trip through the ocean, Finn felt a shiver run down his spine as she began. He knew the ocean was evil, now he knew why he knew and wondered what happened to him and his father after the great storm parted his family.

(Several hours later)

"…so the troll, Cedric, won't take no for an answer, he won't accept that Huntress won't be his wife. She finally has enough of the guy bothering her so she grabs him by the front of his jerkin and throws him single-handed on to the nearby table where his friends so far had been cheering him on to bother us. On impact the guy is knocked out cold and all the beer and food that was on the table are all over his friends. I think we're about to start the third bar fight of the week but instead of getting mad his friends laugh and now cheer_ her_ on. I'm completely shocked and say my concerns on that and on the guy she had most likely just given a head injury. But Huntress just smiles at me and in that smug way of hers she tells me '_Don't you know? Trolls appreciate when people defend themselves. Not to mention I didn't really hurt the donk anyway'_, next thing I know the first troll gets off the table and starts laughing with the rest of his friends. He then introduces himself as the King of the Trolls and calls us both honorary friends of the trolls for Huntress' '_strength of person'_ and my _'compassion for all' _as he put it. He then bought us another round and went to just lightly flirting with Huntress." Beth was shaking her head and laughing at the memory from about a week ago. After that the trolls proved themselves to be nice enough guys, one even started to flirt with her too. Everyone else was laughing as well, her stories were interesting and concerned people and places Finn and Jake had also seen so many story trades had occurred over the course of the afternoon and now evening. She could barely believe her brother had seen and done all the things he had. Then again she had done some pretty fantastic stuff herself and she had only been here a small time while her brother had been here almost his whole life.

She had explained that one of the reasons it had taken so long to find Finn was that as often as it had helped her search to say she was a human it often hindered it. Seemed every other person she met didn't like humans due to Finn's interference in their plans or they wanted a taste of human but were too scared of Finn to try to take it out of him. So she had to travel incognito as an "apprentice wizard" to Huntress to get answers. And even then half the directions they got lead to obviously the wrong place, whether it was intentional or not she would never know. "The Trolls were the ones who finally showed me for sure where you were and how to get there the safest way possible."

Jake gave a chuckle as he set yet another round of tea on the table, the group had gone through three by know and a number of snacks. Well the three flesh beings ate snacks, BMO pretended to eat and Flame Princess ate some "special charcoal" that Finn had set out especially for her. They had giggled and given one another shy looks when he handed them over to her. They really were cute together, even with Finn needing to wrap her hands in foil to touch her. If anything it made it more endearing.

One of Beth's tales that stood out the most was her run in with the Magic Man, it had happened when the two women were camping in the many forests around Ooo. Beth was on watch that particular part of the night while Huntress slept. She had heard a noise and went to investigate it, what she saw was this 'weird green skinned dude dancing around with a spaced out look on his face'. She quickly made herself known and asked what he was up to; she didn't like shady characters showing up at night. The man had squinted at her, his face and posture suddenly seeming full of purpose, before jumping right in front of her and throwing this magic sparkling dust on her head. She barely had time to cover her face and front bangs before the dust was upon her. She heard the man singing about changes that were good for one's life and then he was gone, leaving her coughing and alone in the dark. It wasn't until she had made her way to the river near their camp that she saw what he was on about. Her once sweet brown-gold hair was now a vibrant, electric blue. She could only stare at her now vibrantly contrasting hair in astonishment and no amount of washing or time would get rid of it. The color didn't fade and when her hair grew it grew out blue, she had been given a permanent dye job. Huntress Wizard had explained to her who the man was the next morning and everyone agreed with her description of him as a 'magical jerk' and how lucky she was he hadn't done anything more malicious. Huntress gave her strict instructions to never leave camp without her after that. No one could name a reason for why he had done what he did but all agreed the color was "cool".

As he sat back down Jake said "Yeah the trolls are pretty cool, you'd think they wouldn't be into fighting and fun like other creatures of plants and nature and stuff but go figure." He stuffed another cupcake into his mouth, Beth was both impressed and disgusted by how much the guy could eat. It was truly a sight to see. She yawned, "Yup." As if a spell had been cast yawns started to come from everyone in the group, even BMO gave a few. Jake looked at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight.

"I think it's time we called it a night Finn, it's getting late." The knife storm had ended a while ago so it would be safe enough for Flame Princess to make her way home. Everyone agreed to the dog's statement and got up from the table.

"Beth can you help me clear the table?" The young woman knew Jake wanted to give Finn and Flame Princess their privacy to say goodbye so she readily agreed and ignored the two young lovebirds. Finn lead FP to the front door and at the threshold he said "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home? It is really late." But the girl simply giggled. "I'll be fine Finn. I can take care of myself." Summoning all of her control she quickly lent forward and placed a quick peck on the guy's cheek, immensely proud that she had only left the slightest burn behind. "Call me tomorrow alright?"

"Sure!" Came forth the dazed reply; Finn felt the tender skin of his face, a grin stretching his mouth wide. He felt his heart start thumping in his chest from the bit of contact and a light blush come to his cheeks. When the color had gone back down he climbed back up the ladder and found Beth and Jake sitting on the living room couch, laughing about something and holding their mugs in their hands. Finn smiled at seeing both sides of his family getting along. Yawning he said "Jake I'm going to bed, Beth blankets and pillows are in the linen closet over there. You'll have to deal with the couch tonight but tomorrow we can find you something much better and put it in one of the spare rooms.

She smiled at her brother's thoughtfulness, "Thanks Finn that would be nice." Not like she had other options, and she certainly hadn't hoped Huntress would offer, nope.

"I'm gonna stay up and talk to Beth for a little longer." It was nice to have some adult conversation.

"Kay. Goodnight bro, good night sis."

"Night Finn."

"Good night brother." Felling a warmth spread through him at that second goodnight Finn made his way to their shared bedroom and sighed in relief when he saw is makeshift bed, he needed to think and digest everything and bed was a good place for him to do it.

After the young man left the room his siblings went back to talking, "Thank you for letting me stay here." There hadn't even been a discussion, the two brothers had simply shared a look when everyone got up and nodded first to each other and then to her. She knew what it meant.

"Aw no problem, least we could do after your long trip and everything. Plus family sticks together so you can stay here as long as you want."

"…You consider me family?"

She had accepted Finn's rather quick acceptance but had thought she would need time to win Jake over. Said magical dog put his mug down and took her hand in his paw and gave it a squeeze.

"Well yeah, I watched you all today and you reminded me a lot of Finn despite you guys not growing up together. You're as much of a hero as he is, not to mention you really made him happy today. Finn's got a big heart and he already holds you as close family, so I don't see any problem with doing the same." Something deep within the woman fell into place then and warmed her from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.

Family, she had a _family_.Oh,man she felt like weeping. She sniffled and quickly bent forward to envelope her companion in a tight hug. Jake returned it full force. When they released Jake smiled and said "We can talk more tomorrow, long day ahead." He then got up and taking his mug with him started for the ladder but was stopped by Beth's voice.

"Goodnight brother."

"Goodnight sister."

Unseen by both Finn smiled and quickly went back to bed.

Beth watched the magical dog stretch up to the second floor and felt like she was on cloud nine. It did not dissipate as she got ready for bed and prepared the couch for her temporary stay on in. It wasn't until she was getting comfortable that she remembered something important. Reaching for her old, dark blue pack that she had moved to the foot of the couch she reached in and from its innards withdrew a small looking glass set in a darkly lacquered rose wood frame; the faint yet still lovely smell wafting from the compact reminding her of Huntress Wizard. The glass shimmered with the purple/blue magic belonging to her friend. Holding the glass close to her face in one hand she tapped the glass three times as she was instructed with the other.

In a clear voice she said "Speaking glass show me Huntress Wizard." A sheen of magic slipped over the glass before dissolving to show the face of said sorcerer/archer woman. The woman had a small frown on her face and gave a huff, Beth noticed she had her hood and mask off. So she was home then or at least someplace safe. She had said she had a few hideouts around Ooo. Maybe she had one in the area?

**"****About time you called me, I was starting to get worried. So you find out if the guy was your family or not?"**

Beth rolled at her friend's mixed tone of concern and indifference and smiled. "Yes and he is, I found my brother Leila."

**"****You better be alone if you're using my real name you dork." **

"Yes _Leila_ I am." She assured her friend. She had made a promise to never say her friend's real name around others. Leila had explained that names had power and as a wizard her true name could give her power over others or others power over her. So she had felt honored that her friend had told her it.

"I'm lying on the couch in his house right now; he and his adoptive brother Jake live together just like the trolls said." She went on to give Huntress a quick rundown of her day and her happiness at being so quickly accepted by the boys.

**"So ….. You're happy they're letting you stay there?"**Did her voice sound hesitant?

"Yup" Why was there a kernel of hope cropping up from that tone?

**"Well alright. That's good, then. Well I'm glad to see you happy so give me a call tomorrow and we can set up plans to meet up somewhere."** Despite an odd sense of disappointment she felt happy that her friend wanted to hang out still. She had secretly feared Huntress wouldn't want to deal with her after everything but this put those silly fears to rest.

"Will do! Good night Leila."

**"****Well eve Bethilda."**

The glass once again became an indigo field and then was clear once again. Beth put it safely away and then snuggled down into the couch; content.

A ways away in one of the forests of Ooo the one known as Huntress Wizard sat in her spacious cave hideout. Said cave had a large dead tree that ages ago had managed to grow through it and which she had hollowed out. This giving a mix of wood and stone interior to the place, currently the owner of the cave was in one of the warmer wooden rooms and sitting on a soft bed. She stared at her own small speaking glass for a few moments. She flexed her fingers around its matching frame to the one she had given to Bethilda. She sighed.

She had chickened out; she couldn't ask her to stay with her. After hearing how happy she was with her new brothers she couldn't ask. She had left her early because she had wanted to let Beth deal with this on her own, she had met the little human boy before and when she had seen Beth she connected the dots. She didn't know why she had helped the human woman or how she had bonded with her so. It was true she rarely liked working with others but she had liked her time with Beth. There was just something about her…

So she knew she had to ask her to stay; before she got too comfortable somewhere else and with someone else. With these thoughts swirling in her mind the solitary sorceress placed her glass on the nearby table and curled up in her own bed.

She had things to do tomorrow.

_Sorry Huntress and Bethilda said they wanted to know one another. So here we are._


	4. Connections

_Well, here we are. Please tell me if I make any continuity errors._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am only using things to write an enjoyable story so Enjoy!_

_Newly revised chapter!_

Four

_Waves, large monstrous black waves with angry faces crash down upon her. The sky is a thick rumbling ceiling with clouds, noise and spilling water. She's a child again, huddled in the corner holding a precious, screaming bundle in her arms. Her parents are figures half hidden in the swirling dark, doing things she only recognizes now because she's done them herself but as a child were still mysterious. There's a rumble, a blinding flash and she's no longer holding the bundle. Now someone else is holding her, it is her mother. She is hanging on for dear life and screaming out into the dark. Bethilda looks and sees two dim figures. It is her father and surprisingly Finn. She continues to glare into the storm and what she sees confuses her more. Her father is not struggling or trying to reach them as he does in her memories instead he is actually laughing and waving placidly, but what disturbs her more is that his cries are the same. "Bethilda! Nadine! I'll see you in the land of Ooo! Just hang on!" She looks to her smiling brother; Finn is laughing and waving as well…why is one of his arms made of metal? She tries to shout to them, to tell them to wait for her because she knows what happens next and she doesn't want to be alone. _

_She blinks; it is now dry and bright. She's in an ill-fitting black dress and standing next to a newly filled grave, she doesn't need to read it to know whose it is. An old man with her father's face and her eyes weeps next to her. It is after the service and they are alone, only rows of seats as empty as the condolences from the people that once held them remain. Another blink and now she is older, another funeral has occurred but this time it is for only one person. She is in another black dress but it fits much better. She stands alone and does not weep, the person this grave is for died a long time ago. A wind begins to blow and her loose hair flies around her, it is the new shocking blue she has come to actually like. She turns and now she is on her little boat but instead of floating on an ocean of water it is a sea of molten rock. That damn sea monster is staring down at her, much bigger and fiercer then it ever truly was in life. Flames spout from the body and a forked tongue flicks around from an open maw, it gnashes its red hot teeth and lunges. She gripes her grandfather's old sword, a weapon that in reality she had had to trade to that fisherman for the boat she now stood on. She jumps impossibly high to meet her enemy, despite the fear that is screaming in her heart she is ready._

Beth gasps, a silent scream stretching her mouth into a large 'o'. She groans," I hate it when I have nightmares." She stares at the wooden ceiling of her brother's living room, concentrating on her breath and the fact that she was no longer alone. It is early morning and all is silent, if she concentrates she can hear Finn and Jake sleeping, their snores audible but not obnoxious. With another weary sigh she knows she is not going back to sleep and sits up on the couch. She's hadn't had a nightmare or dream concerning her parents for a few months now; she guessed that the large talk yesterday was what triggered the end to that.

Stifling a yawn she looks down at her mother's old pack, an item of its contents beckoning her. After a minute worth of mental debate she relents and fishes inside for the old scrapbook. It is the "proof" that she mentioned yesterday, filled with family photos and clippings of her parents many achievements that had made it to the public notice. She looks through it all slowly and begins to hum. It is an old song, a little thing from the days of old before the war. Her father used to sing to her as a lullaby; just as his father did for him and his mother did for him before that. In a soft voice she began the words,

_"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. _

_Taking a break from all your worries; sure would help a lot. _

_Wouldn't you like to get away?_

_Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came._

_You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same._

_You wanna be where everybody knows your name…."_

_88888_

Finn turned and twisted in bed, smacking his lips he groggily got up. He was thirsty; gazing around the room he idly took in his surroundings. Taking a look at Jake he saw his brother was still dead to the world, his back leg twitching every now and again as he snored softly. As the young man slowly came to his senses he became aware of two things: one was that it was early morning and another was a faint sound coming from downstairs. As he made his way over he realized it was slightly accented singing, the words shifting from the language he recognized to one that was similar but yet still different; as silent as a mouse he crept down the steps listening to soft words.

_ "…Where everybody knows your name; And they're always glad you came;_

_Where everybody knows your name, And they're always glad you came..." _

As he makes his way into the living room he lets himself make some noise by purposefully stepping on the creaky floorboard near the couch. Beth had finished singing just as he did this and suddenly looked up, a small gasp escaping her lips. He smiled, "That was a nice song; did you make it up?"

She returned his smile with one of her own and shook her head, "No, it's an old lullaby Dad used to sing to me when I had nightmares or was feeling low. He called it the '_Cheers song_' because it was supposed to '_bring cheer to all who heard it because it reminds them of home or people who feel like home._' Well that's what he said anyway." She laughs at the memory of her father's whimsy and Finn laughs with her.

He looks at his sister and sees that her blue hair is loose and sits just past her shoulders, she is wearing an oversized orange shirt with a black skull on it. The neck-hole big enough for one of her shoulders to poke through, the sleeves hang limply around her slim arms. A bit of rope is looped around her neck and leads to something underneath her shirt. He notices the book in Beth's lap and sees that it is full of pictures and clippings. The picture she was waving around yesterday is also in her lap, as if to compare the past and the present side by side.

She notices his look," It's the proof I was telling you about yesterday, would you like to see?" As she pats the space next to her on the couch and Finn feels his heart start thumping in his chest and he makes his way forward but stops when his parched throat reminds him of why he woke up in the first place. "Before that I need some water, want anything?"

"Some water sounds awesome right now, actually." Her mouth tasted of morning breath, gross.

Finn nodded his head and went to the kitchen, grabbing two glasses and filling them up he looked out the window and idly noticed all the daggers sticking out of the ground. He smiled; there would be a good harvest today. He made his way back to the living room and sat next to Beth, handing a glass to his sister he takes a sip and leans over to check out the book. After taking a drink herself and setting down her glass Beth accommodates her brother by shifting the book over until it is halfway on both their laps.

She turns back to the first page; it is full of old photos. "I made this while I was growing up, I collected all the photos and scraps I could to help myself remember them and to not feel so alone." He looks at her sad smile and nods his head in understanding. He looks down at the photos and notices an old black and white photo of a boy about his age, on his face is a large smile and on his head is a familiar looking hat, except the ears are more to the side and fatter. "That's our Dad's dad when he was a boy; old Grandpa Alphonse was just as much an adventurer as our dad was."

"His hat…it looks like mine."

"Yeah that hat is another tradition in Lupe; all children are given an item representing their family seal." "Family seal?"

"Yeah it's like…a small drawing representing your family group and stuff. Like for the House of Mertens-that's the formal way they say it over there- our seal is a picture of a white bear with a green back ground." She quickly closes the book and points to the cover; on it is the said 'seal' she was talking about.

"Oooohhh, I get it now. Princess Bubblegum has the same thing except she calls it a different word I can't remember right now." Nodding her head Beth reopens the book and points to the picture they were looking at before.

"The way our family decided to do it was that all of the boys born to the family would be given a bear hat and all the girls would be given a necklace with a pendant; both made or found by the parents or current guardians." Finn felt a surge of happiness and regret that the hat he now had was not the original, but he had kept the basic principal so there was that.

Beth then reaches into her shirt for the rope and reveals that it ties to a pendant. It was a metal backed square filled with smooth pretty pale green stones that had been shaped to fit around a single white stone flecked with a few shiny colors in the middle. Said stone had been shaped to look like a bear when viewed from the side.

"_(Whistle) _is that pale jade and opal? Man, that is a nice piece of jewelry there girl." Both turned in surprise to see Jake standing in front of them, he held a mug of steaming tea in his hand.

"Jake! When did you get here?" asked a surprised Finn.

Beth simply stared at the dog that had managed to sneak up on them, she gripped her pendant in two hands as if to protect it from further scrutiny. She trusted Jake but the dog wasn't the first to appreciate its value, that's why she had taken to wearing it under her clothes instead of in the open as was custom.

The dog shrugged, "Um, about the time she started talking about your hat and why you have one." He gave a small laugh. "Sorry about scaring you, I just didn't want to interrupt the moment until appropriate. So can I get in on this info session?"

Finn looked at Beth who had gotten over her initial shock and had had hidden her pendant away again, she smiled. "Sure, take a seat next to Finn." The magical dog did just that and with a little readjustment all three could plainly see the book.

And that is how they spent their morning, Beth introducing the two to a family with a legacy as diverse as that of Joshua and Margaret Dog.

_88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 88888888888888888888_

The mighty ruler of the Flame Kingdom, Flame King, grumbled moodily. Reminding his daughter of her evil nature was not going as according to plan, hell, he hadn't had any progress at all! It was that damn _boy's_ fault; his showing her how to feel and to like _destroying_ evil instead of _being_ evil burned the patriarch up in a way that was not good. He growled again, he remembered how he had tried to whisper in his daughter's ear just this morning and she had effortlessly batted him away and even managed to banish him from her home. The strength held within her was already proving to be a match for his own fire powers, if this kept up and she grew to control them completely then all his plans would be for not. And even worse he most likely would be overthrown by his little Ignacia and be left alive to see her take his place and probably return his domain to how it was under his goody good brother-how embarrassing.

He growled again and slumped a little in his throne; lost in his own head he did not hear the little flame servant until he was cowering right at his feet.

**_"Um…. your Majesty?"_** The King of Flames turned his head, the use of the ancient tongue bringing him out of his head. **_"What is it wyrm?"_**

**_"T-hat wizard that does the weird things with rocks and minerals is here."_** Ah, that's why he spoke the old flame language. His subjects never really did like outsiders; they took to speaking the old tongue when powerful ones were around so they could not overhear anything vital. Smart yet paranoid if you asked him, but what can you do?

**_"Very well, I will meet with him in my study."_** The servant nodded and crawled away, the King then turned to his court. **_"All is adjourned, return tomorrow to resume court."_**

No one argued, as his subjects left his halls Flame King made his way to his study. When he entered he saw his visitor lounging in a flaming metal chair, the tell-tale blue glow of flame-shield coming from a spelled amulet stating why the fleshy man wasn't writhing in agony at the moment. He didn't know how old exactly the man was but he knew the wizard had been around for a long time, his young appearance making things more confusing. Under the obscuring haze of blue the man had red-gray skin and coal-black hair growing as long hair tied back and a long, wispy mustache-goatee combo that had managed to grow to his mid chest. He wore clothes made of a combination of dark green cloth, metal and dark leathers; to cover it all he wore a matching green cloak with the hood up.

Making his way into the room and taking a seat on the other side of his special desk Flame King put on a grin and said "Ah Jarlath the Alchemist, what reason brings you here?"

Jarlath looked over and pasted on a grin of his own, "Good morn Flame King, not good news I'm afraid. I'm sure you know of the failed attack on your daughter?"

"Yes, seems your golems were subdued by that boy Finn and his company." The King laughed heartily at the man making him visibly blush with anger.

"I would have succeeded if I had been given the right times on when she would be alone, instead of my small army of special-lava rock golems overpowering the little firebird they were defeated by those two humans and that magical dog! All thanks to your _information_." The sorcerer was fuming with indignant rage at not being able to claim his prize. Flame King had promised his daughter's hand to the wizard years ago in exchange for a co-ruling spot in the sorcerer's plan to take control of Ooo.

The dark-caster had insisted that his interest in his child was purely for her volatile powers but the King knew the man had been smitten the moment he laid eyes on the girl years ago. Even if he wasn't power hungry he would want to marry his little firebug; the King had approved because none the less things would work out for the Fire Kingdom. Whether the man took control of Ooo or not his daughter would have been released on the world and-due to have being confined in that lamp- would destroy it all in the interest of her domain. And her husband would do nothing because he _cared_ about her too much. Hah.

Or that's how it would have been if not for that thrice blasted boy, may he be cursed to die by fire before ascending to the 39th Dead World. He should not have ever allowed him in his court. Now the king would be lucky if his daughter at least killed the sorcerer, let alone go along with his plans. She had met the fleshy before and had expressed no interest in him whatsoever. She had even made fun of him when their interview was over. So that's why the monarch never got around to telling her they were betrothed, just simply decided to tell her after it happened. Not like she would recognize the rituals for a flame wedding anyway.

Flame King would have laughed again at the "young" man but something occurred to him." Wait did you say _two_ humans?"

The sorcerer grumped, "Yes, at first it was just the boy and the dog. And my golems were still wearing them down because they did not know how to defeat my lovely creatures but then _she_ had to show up! That new human that's been running around Ooo just had to appear and aid them."

The King raised a crackling brow, "I thought that was just rumor spreading around, I mean everyone knows there hasn't been another human in this part of the world for quite a number of years. And now suddenly one shows up and it just happens to be the sister of the one resident human hero? And has connections to that isolationist Huntress Wizard? Impossible."

"It's not, believe me. I had met her before. A few days before hand I had been testing the effectiveness of my golems on some stupid village of tree people. They had just barely began to do some good damage when Huntress Wizard and that woman…Beth_-_something decided to crash the party. Immediately they begin knocking apart my golems thanks to that sorceress detecting their power source and saved all the villagers."

The King simply stared; "One of your own kind aided in defeating you and you only seem to hold ire for the human woman." The Alchemist shrugged, "Meh, sometimes wizards stop or mess with other wizards. All it really does is aid us in perfecting our stuff but that…._human_….." He trailed off for a moment and grumped again, his agitation obvious.

After a moment he said, "Only wizards or heroes should interfere with another wizard's business. Plebian _fleshies_ should mind their own business unless they're being victims.

Flame King had to resist the urge to grip the bridge of his non-existent nose. _Sorcerers_. They were all the same.

"You realize that since she helped "save" a princess-my daughter- from danger she's at this point technically a hero?"

Another grump, "Don't remind me."

Heaving a small sigh Flame King said, "Was there some reason you came by other than to inform me of your failure?"

With a small frown on the his face Jarlath said, "Yes actually, I wanted to take a look at that lamp you used to house Flame Princess in, I have a new plan in the works to capture her.

"Ah, yes. Come along then, I'll show it to you."

Good, if the Alchemist could manage to capture his daughter she would be under both of their power. He had been unable to take her himself because his damned family defended her choice, even his own sons had threatened him if he dared go near her or the human boy. Not that he really feared their strength but pushing all of his offspring against himself would be a very stupid idea. So here he was with this sorcerer of rocks and minerals doing what he could to get his girl back.

The two malignantly aligned males left the study and walked down the corridor toward Flame Princess's old prison.


	5. Meetings

_Word of warning, slight Bubblegum x Marceline because that's the way it is. Don't like don't read or ignore._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing so Enjoy!_

_Newly revised chapter!_

Five

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum sighed, today was one of _those_ days. Ice King was causing a ruckus in her city once again, currently he held her in his arms, her body rendered inert by being incased in ice.

Honestly she was going to get _freezer burn_ one of these days.

She grumbled again as the old man struggled with her banana guards, she had enjoyed the last couple weeks because it seemed Ice King had turned his crazed mind to other things. But for whatever reason he had decided today was a good day to bother Bubblegum mid experiment-said experiment quickly exploded when not being tended to by the genius ruler- and try to marry her _again_. Honestly sometimes it was extremely hard for the Princess to connect this bothersome lunatic to the gentile archeologist unfortunately trapped within his head.

The only upside was that Finn and Jake were already on their way with "some extra help" and only a little of her city had been damaged so far. If her heroes came soon enough she would be able to fix her city without needing to raise any taxes. As Ice King gave another maniacal laugh he blasted some more of Bubblegum's poor banana guards, seeing a break in the lines he quickly flew through and out into the open main square of the city. He looked around excitedly and was about to fly off when he was suddenly kicked in the face by a very familiar black shoe. His princess was taken from his arms as he crashed to the ground. He looked over and saw Finn set Princess Bubblegum on the ground and -with a few swift kicks -set her free. Still dazed he saw Jake and this chick with crazy blue hair and a broad sword run up to the young hero. _'Oh boy another hero-friend for those two.'_ He though sarcastically.

Getting up-with many creaks and pops from bones- the ruler of the ice and snow glared at the foursome. "Aw, why did you break her out? I had to sneak up on her oh so carefully so she couldn't hit me before I did it."

All four of them glare at him and Finn gives a groan, "Ice King! What the flop man? Why can't you just leave PB alone? Just get out of here! Go!"

The bearded man frowned, his "nemesis/ sometimes-friend" sounded more disappointed and annoyed rather than angry or thrilled to see him. He didn't like it. "Ahhh, what? But you're the ones who interrupted me!"

"He said leave old man!" And suddenly there was a sword in his face; it was that chick with the blue hair.

He blinked.

"Hey aren't you the chick who's been hanging out with Huntress Wizard?" That's right she was a normie. Huh, now that he looked at her she kinda looked like Finn.

_Weird…_

"Yes, and you're the annoying old guy who kept bothering us and blew our cover in that wizard city market place!"

Ugh, that was a disastrous night. Huntress Wizard had dressed her up to like a water sorceress-to work with the blue hair-and they had gone to meet someone she knew who might've been able to help her locate not only her brother but her father as well, or at least determine if either of them was alive. But _nooooo,_ this guy had to keep bothering first Huntress then her which drew attention to them. Seeing this-Huntress had explained this informant not would come forward if they didn't blend in- Beth had pushed the guy away and started to try making her way through the crowd, Huntress right behind her. But the push had caused some sort of reflex to happen and the guy sent a zap of ice magic at them, Huntress tried to get both of them out of the way but they pivoted and Beth managed to get blasted in the side. When they hit the floor the frozen part of her costume broke off-revealing her very normal body shape underneath.

Needless to say they barely made it out alive when everyone realized their ruse. And now it looked like her friend might not be completely welcome in her home turf anymore.

Beth growled. "Now my brother may have sympathy for you- "

_Brother?_- Ice King stared.

Said sibling had yelled at the woman to stand down and was making his way over while Jake and the princess of the candy kingdom stayed back. "But I have none, now get out of here or I'll make good on Huntress' old promise to give you quite the shave." To emphasize her point the woman flicked her sword and a small tuft of white hair from Ice King's beard flew up and then to the ground.

This made him take a step back, "Okay! Okay, I'm out of here. See you later Finn." At this point said hero and caught up to the two and gave a small awkward wave, "Uh, bye." With that the poor, crazed man flew off. Beth turned to her brother. "Beth! I thought I said use non-sharp force on him. He's just a crazy, annoying guy."

The woman scoffed, "Whatever, I got him to leave. Plus even though he's a pain in the ass I really wouldn't have used the sword like that. I don't believe in mistreating the elderly, even evil or annoying elderly." She frowned, and her look became distant for a moment before snapping back to her brother who was giving her a peculiar look.

"Any way let's go meet this princess friend of yours." Finn smiled seeing his sister snap back to herself, seeing her threaten Ice King was a little….unsettling since he was not used to that side of her. Seeing the look on Jake's face confirmed his feelings. "Sure, come on." Finn then lead Beth back toward Jake and the pink hued woman that ruled this land.

Her hair was done up in a pink messy bun, she wore goggles on her face and a lab coat that covered a magenta colored dress, her skin was a light rose color. She looked pretty slim but that didn't really say anything about her strength level, Beth had seen skinner people take down crazy foes both in Ooo and at home. She had a nice enough face and looked like the decent sort. She smelled like the gum her grandpa would buy her on a good market day when she was a child. She smiled, "Hello, I'm Bethilda Mertens but you can just call me Beth."

"Greetings, I am Princess Bubblegum. Welcome to my kingdom." PB took a moment to look at the woman, her black and dark green clothes looked worn yet clean and the white and red shirt she spied in the opening of the jacket spoke of some color palette. The gauntlets she wore seemed to be made of an interesting alloy and were intricately engraved; on her shoulders was strung a small gray messenger bag. She had a decent build-athletic and thinner than Finn who was still working off baby fat- and while her facial bone structure held its own pattern she could see it had a few similarities to Finn's. The muscle fibers of her iris were colored the same shade of blue as her brother's; her stance was firm.

She smiled, "Thank you for getting rid of Ice King, I think you might have managed to scare him off for at least a little while. Anyway I hear that you are a human like Finn, there has been rumor spreading about another human in Ooo but I thought it was baseless."

"Nope, it's the real deal." Interjected Jake helpfully.

Bubblegum nodded her head, "Come let us go inside to sit and chat, I am most curious to hear how you came to be here Beth the human." As the group made its way through the slight amount of ruble and staring sentient candy Beth raised a brow at her surroundings; so Candy Kingdom was not just a title. It was a descriptor as well! Seriously, everyone and everything was candy, it freaked her out a bit. She turned when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, it was Finn.

"You okay?" She smiled weakly, "Just trying to take everything in, this place just gets weirder and weirder." Finn and Jake- who had been listening- chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it can feel that way if you aren't used to it."

Beth smiled at them and continued looking about; her eyes caught a dark face looking at her through one of the many windows of the palace. She narrowed her eyes to get a better look but it quickly disappeared. Feeling a chill go down her spine she went back to looking at the candy people.

She would never get used to this place.

_8888_

Jarlath chuckled to himself as he worked in his lab. Surrounded by a maze of tables with a plethora tubes, beakers, bottles, various apparatus filled with bubbling chemicals in a rainbow of colors, various rocks and minerals, books and notes he was truly in his element. His cloak hung on a peg in the corner, exposing the long braid of black hair he had. His smile was slightly manic.

He had inspected his little firebird's old holding lamp and after analyzing a few samples he had taken he found he could recreate its base material. Of course he would not just make another lamp; his love deserved something befitting her station. He looked over at the oil painting he had made of her from memory, her brows and mouth pinched in such an adorable way. She always wore that expression when she saw him and he understood; she had to keep indifference up so as not to appear weak; the Fire Kingdom was a dangerous place. But he had seen it, the first time they had seen each other, it was _love_.

He had heard of her power and had ventured to the Flame Kingdom to negotiate with her father, when he had seen her all alone in her lamp he _knew_ he was a goner. Her luscious orange hair crackled when she spotted him, her perfect sun yellow face stretched in an expression of amazement when she noticed him staring. A light blush flitted on her face and then it was gone, that pinched expression making itself at home. So he knew the feelings were mutual, that's why he had been so confused when she had started dating that damn hero boy.

But then it hit him, she was just pretending. By hiding behind that damn patsy she could be free of her father and gain her strength.

Well he would wait and play the part of partner to her father, but when the right time came he would reveal himself to her, take her back to his domain and they would reunite in glorious passion. Together they would conquer the Fire Kingdom and then Ooo. She would be his Phoenix Queen and he her lowly King Consort, to hell with those conservative who thought eighteen was the only legally right age to consummate. When it comes to true love no mortal laws mattered.

But for any of this to work he had to make this capture of his princess convincing, he had to truly overpower her, he saw that when his rock golems tried to take her last time. She had fought with all the semblance of realism before and after those heroes showed up. Who _knew_ his little darling was such an actress?! So he had to make this perfect. He looked at his workstation.

Yes the material was just beginning to boil.

This would be perfect.

_88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 8888888888888888888888888888888_

Princess Bubblegum gave a final wave to the Finn, Jake and Beth as they made their way out of the city and toward home. It was quite late but she wasn't even a little tired. Talking to Beth had so excited her; she was actually rather smart in rudimentary science and had a decent vocabulary. Not to mention her information on humans was quite interesting- I mean the nation she came from was united under a single republic and flag, how fascinating! She was happy for Finn in that he was not the last human and his sister had been so accommodating in letting her examine her and take some samples as she had done to Finn on more than one occasion.

Her story of her journey here and how Finn came to this land greatly intrigued her. Being as ageless as she was she could clearly remember when she had first heard tales of a brunette, heroic man running around Ooo. But those tales hadn't lasted for very long and were soon forgotten. The bit of gossip that no one would get over was the news that the illustrious Joshua Dog and his Lovely wife Margaret Dog had adopted what could be the last human boy and were raising him to be a hero. The princess had taken special interest in this; heroes were always welcome in the land of Ooo. She would be forever thankful that she had managed to make this one not only her good friend and but also a reliable personal emergency call.

Whoo boy.

The sugary monarch was brought out of her musing by a gray face suddenly popping out of nowhere from above and hissing. Deadpan she said, "Hello Marceline."

The Vampire Queen scoffed, "Look at little Miss Fearless over here." Bubblegum rolled her eyes as her lips quirked up into a grin. Seeing as Marceline was still floating upside down in front of her she gave another eye roll. With a quick lean in she laid a soft, sweet peck on the other woman's cheek and started moving forward when Marceline got out of the way.

"You know you could have come down and said hi, Beth is actually rather nice and I know Finn would have been happy to see you." Marceline floated behind Bubblegum as she made her way back to her lab, didn't this woman ever sleep? Not that the half demonic vampire really minded; these all-nighters gave Marceline a chance to have PB all to herself.

Neither woman was really sure where or what they were at the moment but….after that incident with the music band and that door…they had started talking and things had progressed to now. Neither of them knew if it would work out or if it should so they kept the deeper nature of their friendship their own business for now. But it was nice, the way things were getting, so both of them just let things happen as they happened.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to check things out. You know, see if she was cool without Finn or anyone watching me do it." Marceline had been in a rather nasty fight with this random demon guy who thought he could take her on; she had eventually won and returned him to the night-o sphere but at a rather big price toward her health. Thankfully she had been near the Candy Kingdom so she had went there to rest and both metaphorically and literally lick her wounds. She had hidden in the deeper parts of the castle today and hadn't known what to do when Ice King had shown up, thankfully Finn and his little crew came by before she decided to face the bright sunlight in her weakened state. So she had simply continued to regroup in the castle-she had been impressed when the human woman had managed to see her in that upper window- and had used her powers to observe the company in ways that only PB could see or notice her.

As if sensing her thoughts PB stopped mid-step and turned around, "I don't blame you for not helping with Ice King, you were too weak and even if he had seen you he would not had listened. The guy was in one of his more manic moods." It was true, he had looked a bit more crazed than usual today, thankfully it seemed that knock to the head from Finn had snapped him out of it-if his sudden timid and only slightly off behavior was anything to go by.

"Still doesn't mean it was alright that I couldn't do anything." Protested a put out Marceline, she had gotten a bit overprotective in the last few weeks. PB didn't really mind it. "Better that you did nothing, the sun exposure you would have received would have severely damaged your tissues, now enough of this, let's go to the lab." With that Bubblegum took the other woman's hand-pulling her to be beside her instead of behind and continued on.

Marceline couldn't seem to continue to fret over the day's events with their hands linked so simply let it go with a vow to take action the next time Ice King decided to come around. Their dual steps echoed on the stairs.

"So..?" Bubblegum was now sitting on her stool in her lab, Marceline now floated in the air with her legs crossed over one another. She was dressed casually in boots, blue jeans and an old blue tank; she had gone back to that half-shaved long hair look. PB still didn't know if she liked it or not. Marceline shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah she seemed cool, wonder if she knows how to jam. I'll ask Finn next time I see him." PB shook her head fondly at the gray skinned woman, Marceline was always just so blasé. It was a nice refresher from all of her overly excitable candy citizens.

"So what are you going to research tonight?" Marceline had moved to floating above her now and was lying on her back. Appreciating the view Bubblegum smiled and said "Actually I was going to go over the data I got from Beth today and see if I can't help in the search for Finn and Beth's father."

Marceline turned over at that and looked down at her fellow monarch, she was silent for a moment and then said "I might know a guy, so just do your research and when you're done we can take a trip down to go see him, he only ever shows up really late at night to early morning." The smile she got from PB made something warm in her chest, "Really?!" This was progressing faster than she thought. "Okay then I shall start right away!" And with that the sometimes mad scientist set to work scrunching data while her companion looked on, smiling fondly.

_8888888888_

Finn gave a small yawn as his little family made it back to the tree house, as he slid of off Jake's back he looked over at his sister; she was still stuck in deep whispered conversation with her wizard friend via this weird magic mirror thing. About of the quarter of the way home they all had heard a sort of jingle coming from her bag, Beth had quickly reached inside and pulled out the little compact. Immediately the sounds of a peeved sorceress sounded out of the glass, she demanded to know where she was and why she hadn't called her in a number of days. It still threw Finn that his sister was friends with a wizard let alone _Huntress Wizard_ of all people; they had even went out on their own adventures once before while Finn had gone to see FP and Jake had left to see Lady Rainicorn. She had come back with a number of burns but some decent treasure.

Both had begun to chuckle as Beth guiltily apologized for not contacting her but then turned right around and asserted that it had only been a day and a half- not a _"couple of days"_ as Huntress had said and claimed it was Huntress' own fault because she was too hung up on her "lone wolf image" to just come by and visit. The two continued to go back and forth like an old married couple before they realized the boys were laughing and went to whispering to each other. Beth hadn't even turned from the conversation as she slid off Jakes back, she just deftly got off.

"Ugh, okay. _Okay_, I'll see you in like ten minutes."

**"Tch, don't take that tone with me, it's for you that I'm doing this! Just hurry up… and be careful you donk."**

Beth gave a small sigh as the glow from her mirror went off and didn't hear the snickering until she had turned around and put away her mirror. She shook her head at how much her brothers found this amusing, "Okay guys I'm going out, I'll be back later."

The two males looked at one another for a moment and then smiled; Finn reached into his pocket and then threw something at the human woman. After catching it in her hand she looked at it and saw that it was a heavy metal key. She blinked.

"What's this?"

Jake was the one who answered, "Your key-Ta da! _(Chuckle)_ But seriously be careful, Ooo's a crazy place at night." Finn nodded his agreement as he opened the front door to the tree house. She smiled, a little speechless and nodded her head. Still speechless she gave a small wave and left, putting her new key into her pocket.

Feeling proud of themselves Finn and Jake made their way in the house, greeting BMO and NEPTR respectively before separating. Jake went to take a shower and Finn gave a call to Flame Princess.

"Hello?" Good, she hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"Hey it's Finn, how was your day?"

At her home FP gave a smile, Finn was stupid sometimes but always considerate.

"It was good but boring….hey why don't you come over?"

Finn blinked, "Um, isn't it a little late?" Jake said going to a lady friend's house late at night was strictly tier eight and beyond material, he and FP were still barely tier two.

"No, not really. Please? I haven't seen you in a while." It was true; and today really had been a boring day, but not too long ago Flame King had materialized to whisper evil in his daughter's ear again. She had banished him as easily as she had last time but she kind of didn't want to be alone right now. Finn could always brighten up her day.

Said hero could sense something in her voice and quickly made up his mind. "Okay, I'll go over, but only for a little while okay?" He didn't want to mess up their process too much.

"Great! See you in a few." Flame Princess felt a slight weight lift from her shoulders.

After saying their goodbyes Finn made his way toward the bathroom where Jake was still showering, "Jake I'm going out for a bit to see FP! She sounds spooked about something; I'm going to check it out and be back in a little while!" Jake turned toward the door, as he scrubbed his back he yelled back, "Okay! But don't be doing anything beyond your tier okay Romeo?" He chuckled at hearing Finn's embarrassed, stammered denial and farewell. He knew his brother wouldn't do anything; he was too much of a gentleman for that.


	6. Dark

_This chapter is longer than it really has any right to be, haha. R&R!_

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, Enjoy!_

Six

Finn hummed the small melody he had heard his sister sing a few days ago, she had sung a number of others over the past few days but that first one-the "Cheers song"-was becoming his favorite. The night was still in this part of the land, most of its inhabitants either had settled down for the night long ago or were out hunting for food, or floozies, or purpose to their lives or whatever. The song provided a bit of comfort.

He smiled as he finally reached the home of Flame Princess, stopping for a moment he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small rock pendant on a string, a blue haze coming from it told the item had been spelled with heat shield. It had been a piece of the nice haul Beth had picked up from her adventure with Huntress Wizard a few days back; apparently chests held items to survive a hot environment when they were in dungeons near the Flame Kingdom, who knew? Beth had brought home a number of spelled items, which was really useful for Finn because not only did it make Finn that bit more invincible on an adventure but also allowed him to be a bit more comfortable with his sweet little lady. A wish he had not really been able to achieve with the current inaccessibility of Flambo; the little flambit was hard to come by on a normal day but he hadn't shown up anywhere as of late. Finn was actually beginning to worry for the little guy.

Deciding to put such thoughts behind him for now the young hero donned the necklace and raised a now blue colored hand to knock on the door. A smile graced FP's pretty face when she opened the door and saw Finn standing there. It grew bigger upon seeing the telltale spell shield he had on. Wasting no time she leaned forward and grabbed his hand; both blushed and giggled when they made non-painful contact- and pulled her boyfriend inside. The girl lead Finn to sit in her small living room, "Thanks for coming by Finn I really didn't want to be alone right now."

Finn's elation drifted into concern, "Why? Something happen? Those golems come back?" Not too long ago the group had discussed over the fact that those golems from a couple days back seemed very interested in FP, and Beth had speculated they may come back.

"No, no nothing like that. I just….my dad came by to whisper in my ear again …" She trailed off, her thumb absently stroked Finn's hand. A small, removed part of the young man's mind was doing cartwheels over the fact.

"And?" He prompted gently. The princess of the Flame Kingdom looked at her boyfriend, unease etched across her young face. "I got rid of him easily enough but something he said made me, well…uncomfortable. You see he had caught me napping and I woke up to him whispering about how if I'd just be like him my true nature would emerge and I could set fire to the world. Under his wing I could bring the "fire that still burns within the earth" up and let everyone feel my passion and evil. He also….he also talked about how you and everyone would burn and it would be a fitting end to everything." Finn stared. A chill went down his spine. He had heard many similar speeches in his time about how someone wanted him to die one way or another; someone at his age should not really be used to that, but there's reality for you.

But this…

"I'm sorry but that is a little disturbing." His eyebrows were furrowed in concern, "Are you gonna be okay? All of that sounds kinda dark." FP squeezed his hand and frowned a little.

"It was, as soon as I really woke up I flipped out at him and told him my true nature was already coming out and the only thing that would burn would be him if he ever came near me or you. And then I banished him from my home with the threat that if he ever came near me again I'd make good on my offer." She said darkly. Finn was relieved and a little flustered at his girlfriend's protectiveness of him. It meant she was still her…but the whole swearing to harm her own father worried him a little.

"You wouldn't really…ah_-"Burn"_ your dad would you?" He had to ask, with his parental issues- let alone his status as a caring, heroic to a fault individual- it was understandable that Finn had misgivings about even the mention of patricide. So Flame Princess forgave him.

She nodded her head, "Yup, I'm tired of his whispers and I don't appreciate him threatening you in any way. If my father insists on continuing then I'll have no choice but to confront him. My powers have been growing during my time outside his awful lamp and I have learned to control them along the way. I'm pretty sure I could defeat him if need be, Princess Bubblegum wasn't kidding when she said I had immense power." Finn smiled at the mention of his friend and once crush, the ruler of the Candy Kingdom had only been working in Ooo's best interest when she warned Flame King of his daughter's destructive potential, little did she know she hadn't been talking to the good King she had conversed with at that Royal Science Convention earlier that year.

It was for those reasons Flame Princess (and Finn) held no animosity for her fellow royalty, her only ill feelings went to her father and his methods of letting her unchecked nature ferment. Oh yes, she had figured out the real reason she had been locked away and didn't plan on returning to it any time soon.

"Yeah so with all this gobbity-gook rumbling in my head you see why I didn't want to be alone?"

"Oh yeah, I can totally understand." He laughed, enjoying that the mood was lightening somewhat.

"But don't worry, nothing bad is gonna happen okay? Jake, Beth and I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else!" In his sudden excitement Finn had jumped up –dragging FP with him- and he had let go of her hand to wrap an arm around her waist. It all made a very heroic pose, especially with the demon blood sword Finn suddenly held in his other hand. The girl couldn't help but giggle at her boyfriend's antics that were part to cheer her and part his own excitement. Finn always reminded her of a campfire; a usually well maintained bit of brightness that would aid and warm those around it and could rise up with considerable power when given enough fuel. Her cheeks warmed at their close contact and her arms rose up and wrapped around his neck of their own volition.

Finn put his sword away and then turned to the girl at his side when he felt arms around his neck; his cheeks turned a bright red upon seeing FP's face so close to his own. Their faces where just inches apart, "I won't let anything happen to you" said Finn softly as he brought his face a little closer. FP smiled, her happiness and other emotions were making her body and home flare up a bit but nowhere near was it life threatening. As she closed the distance a bit more she whispered, "And I won't let anything happen to you, ever." Their noses touched, Finn tried to say something but he was too tongue tied. The hamster on a wheel he called a brain wasn't running fast enough. Their breath mingled and-

CRASH!

Both looked over at the suddenly large gaping hole where FP's window used to be. This warlock or something in a hood that Finn had never seen before was now walking through it; a look of rage contorted his features. Two large and imposing golems composed of what looked like glass and rock were behind him. On instinct Finn pushed FP to the safety of his back and pulled out his sword. "What the heck man?! You just can't break into people's houses!" And interrupt a good kiss.

"Ah shut up you overly praised hero boy." _Boy!?_ Finn had already started to grow some nice hair on his face-didn't matter if Jake called it "just blonde fuzz"- it counted. Boy _indeed_.

Finn growled. From behind him FP looked over at the hazy blue wizard and realization gave her a nice slap to the face. Her eyes widened. "You! You're that guy that would always come over and stare at me when I was trapped in the Flame Kingdom!" Both males turned to her at that. Jarlath stared at his little firebird, a mix of emotions swirled within him but he would save them for later. If she was going to continue with faking it then he would as well, he would get answers for what almost happened later.

Finn frowned, "You know this guy?"

"Not really."

Fisting his hands Jarlath said, "Hello, I'm Jarlath the Alchemist and I'm here for her." He pointed a finger at his fiery goddess with all the dramatics the scene required. The boy bought it like the sucker he was.

"No way you're getting anywhere near her!" with that Finn rushed forward and took a swing with his sword, a clang resonated around the room as the older male defended himself with a metal looking staff he had pulled out of nowhere. Quickly tuning to his cohorts Jarlath yelled, "Get the girl!" With unusual speed the two golems went forward, Flame Princess gave a small battle cry and immediately started blasting them. She wasn't just going to let them take her, no sir. But just like before these things didn't seem to be affected at all by her flames, no matter how hot they got. They began to close in on her.

Finn noticed her predicament and tried to disengage from the alchemist but the male wouldn't let him, instead he upped the ante by moving from defensive to offensive and started jabbing and whacking at Finn's defense. The hero had to use most of his attention and prowess to keep up, he idly noticed he was being forced back, away from FP and the hole in the wall. He growled. After parrying another blow Finn stepped forward and made a strong thrust into an opening Jarlath left for him, he connected. But instead of his sword sinking into the man's flesh it simply bounced off, as if he had simply stabbed at a super hard rock. His demon blood sword was strong but even it had limits.

Jarlath laughed, "Realize what you're up against now boy? I am a being that is one with the very earth, my body is as tough and strong as any mountain and as fast as a landslide!" With that he took a swing with his staff that would have crushed the young hero's head if he had not managed to block it. He opened his mouth to retort but a scream cut him off, Finn looked over and his eyes widened.

What? There was this…giant glass and gold snake beast thing in FP's living room now and in its clear belly was an unconscious Flame princess. "No! Flame Princess!" Finn managed to throw the wizard off of him and started forward but a heavy force hit him in the back of the head. His eyes shut of their own accord and he felt himself hit the floor hard.

Then everything went black.

_88888_

Princess Bubblegum snorted once again as Marceline and Peppermint Butler finished setting and lighting the last of the candles, they were the only light in the dark house. She sat on a pillow on the floor of Marceline's spacious living room with her legs crossed; she had changed into that band shirt that Marceline had given her, a pair of tight bright pink pants and some casual sneakers. Marceline had insisted she be dressed casually for this person they were about to "summon"-she suspected Marceline just wanted to see her dressed like this. She couldn't believe that not only Marceline but Peppermint of all people actually thought they were going to _magically summon_ someone with all that they were doing. And she couldn't believe her own right hand candy actually knew about any of this stuff and volunteered to help so everything went "safely" as he put it. Honestly its' like everyone was taking crazy pills or something for believing in all this magic stuff. It was all just misunderstood advanced sciences.

Not that she didn't think anyone would appear, she had seen teleportation technology and "possession" before but all the candles and special chants? The _offerings_? Please, this was all just _wizard_ shenanigans.

The little candy man and the Queen of the Vampires rolled their eyes at their companion's skepticism but carried on; some arguments were just not worth having. Finally everything was set; Peppermint took his place and sat down at the center of the ceremony on an intricately drawn pattern that had been drawn with chalk on the floor. Then Marceline came in and placed a top hat on his head. She then set herself down and actually sat on the cushion instead of just hovering over it. She turned to the princess, "Okay we're going to be calling on this old spirit I know by the name of Baron Cimitière who-"

"Oh no, not that old fool, he's just a lesser death aspect from the 14th shadow world." Marceline glared at the interrupting candy man, "Oh? And who do you suppose we ask? Baron's helped me out before and he should be able to say whether Finn's dad is dead or not." Peppermint scoffed. "_Should_ is not the same as _can_ my dear, now we should summon Master Kalfu of the Crossroads, not only should he be able to tell us if the man has ascended but also where he his body is in either case. We have all the materials right here, not to mention I've talked with the guy before, he's pretty cool."

Marceline scoffed, "You want to call down such a large personality into your body? Can you handle that?" The little man simply grinned, "Young lady you have no idea of things I've seen and done or what I can handle." Bubblegum stared as the two argued, as much as she had been amused now she was starting to feel a small bit of unease at Peppermint's words. He sounded so…old, as if he were even older than Marceline. But that was impossible, her grandfather had made Pep when he was a lad. That was just a few hundred years ago at best. She shook her head, "Ugh just decide already."

Marceline and Peppermint Butler broke their staring match simultaneously to look at the pink hued woman next to them; she blushed a bit at the sudden attention. Marceline narrowed her eyes for a moment and then gave a sigh, "Fine, we'll call Kalfu. Don't say I didn't warn you though." Peppermint harrumphed.

"Just hand me a cane sister". Marceline rolled her eyes as she got up and retrieved said item, as she handed it over to the candy man –who set it in his lap- and sat back down she said," As I was saying, we're going to be summoning _Kalfu_, he's an entity who helps guard the crossroads of life and death and is very powerful, he's a trickster so we have to be careful. Peppermint here is going to be the "horse" his spirit is going to "ride" and talk through because he has a high magical aura to him-so he should be safe-and wears clothes that this particular spirit favors so he will feel more at home in the temporary body."

Bubblegum raised a brow, "You're serious, aren't you." It wasn't a question, it was an incredulous statement. Peppermint turned a bit- mind full not to smear the chalk -and now was looking at Bubblegum and frowned, "Princess I know you believe this all to be just some mumbo jumbo but I would take the time now to plead with you to keep your prejudices and skepticisms to yourself during this venture. Just let Marceline and me do the talking unless you are directly addressed and even then be curt yet very polite. Your pride will land you in a much direr situation then just being sent to wizard jail with Finn and Jake to help get you out if you do not check it this time my lady." He loved his princess but she could be a bit too self-righteous at times.

PB was taken aback by her right hand candy and said nothing for a few moments, but eventually she sighed and said "Very well Peppermint Butler, I will try my best to calm my "pride" as you say and let you and Marceline do what you must for the sake of Finn and Beth." Even if it was a bunch of ignored science she would try her best not to make her point for the sake of her friends. With a nod Peppermint closed his eyes and stuck out his arms horizontally, his left he bend up at the elbow and his right he bend down at the elbow. He made each of his hands into a closed fist with his pointer finger out pointing at the two opposing ways his hands were facing. He began to hum and then said," Oh great Papa Legba of the 7th death world, lord of the crossroads and communication we humble three ask that we be granted permission to speak with your brother Kalfu the trickster god of the crossroads and injustice. We have offerings to balance out any and all aid he shall wish to give, as above so below." He continued to hum and then Marceline joined in and with a nod from her Bubblegum joined in as well, secretly feeling ridiculous.

All noise seemed to disappear from the room; they couldn't even hear one another take a breath; although they were.

Suddenly a voice that was nowhere yet everywhere said quietly, "Granted." Everyone stopped and opened their eyes, Bubblegum stared. Peppermint Butler was now staring at them and sitting in a relaxed and very uncharacteristic manner. His eyes were large and blacked out and weeping, he chuckled and his voice was much smoother and deeper sounding than it should be and had a strange accent. Silence loomed around them.

So this "possession" had begun.

"_Bonjour_ ladies, my, my, I haven't had such lovely faces call upon me in a great long while. Hello Marceline, who is your friend?" He cast an eye on Bubblegum and she couldn't explain the chill she felt go down her spine. Whoever it was that was looking at her was not the candy she knew and loved. Marceline did a half bow and as she rose she said, "Hello Kalfu, thank you for meeting with us. This is Princess Bubblegum ruler of Candy Kingdom, I'm sure Peppermint has already told you of why we wish to speak to you?"

The spirit nodded Pep's head, "Ah yes, a Nonbeliever, very well. And _oui_ he did, you wish to find the whereabouts of a friend's father? Why are none of the _progéniture_ here to ask for themselves? Why is it only you concerned friends?" As he said this, the entity reached for the pile of offerings that had been set nearby and plucked a cigar from the pile, he inspected it and deemed it respectable and proceeded to light it and smoke it. Bubblegum raised a brow but bit her tongue as the candy man flicked his thumb and a small flame popped up to allow him to light the cigar.

Marceline gave a small sigh, "The people we're doing this for don't really need to see this type of magic performed, sir." Not to mention she didn't want anything following them back, Finn's bright aura alone would attract quite a number of dark things. Kalfu gave a puff as he contemplated this statement; he watched the smoke fly up to the ceiling. It was a good brand. He cast a long look at the two women watching him and gave a small chuckle. "Very well, I will see what I can do. Do you have an article of this _Abelard Mertens_ you wish me to seek or of either of his children?"

Bubblegum took this as her cue, quickly reaching into her bag she retrieved two small clear plastic bags filled with hair. One was filled with a bit of shiny blonde hair and the other was filled with bright blue and shiny blonde hair. As she handed them over Bubblegum said, "The plain blonde hair belongs to our friend Finn the human and the other to his sister Bethilda." The being hummed in acknowledgment and stared at the bags as he took another puff of cigar; after a last puff he contented himself with just placing it in his mouth and giving it a chew, he did need both hands free after all. He usually didn't work for so little but Peppermint had helped him out in the past and Marceline was a nice enough kid, meh. He could just take all the offerings with him when he left to enjoy later anyway.

Opening the two bags the entity took a bit from each and held a sample in each hand, he concentrated on them a moment and closed his eyes. Bubblegum resisted the urge to roll hers and Marceline bit her lip. After a few minutes of complete silence suddenly the candy man opened his eyes and the bits of hair burst into red and black flames and quickly disappeared. He turned to look at them, "The _héros_ you seek ascended long ago, his soul is already in the midst of its way to returning to this plane. His old bones are buried in a forgotten cemetery at the foot of a great montagne." He held out his hands and Marceline handed him some chalk and a pad of paper she had gotten…at some point. Bubblegum blinked, she didn't remember when Marc had gotten that. With a last look at the gray skinned woman PB turned back to Pep, who was now putting down a quick yet clear map. He turned to them and gave an eerie grin, "There you are ladies, and your friends should be able to pay their respects to their father now. Speaking of which I suggest you go and start investigating their whereabouts before you have to pay your own respects to their funeral pyre. "

Both of the women blinked at that, "Wait, what do you mean before we pay-"Marceline was cut off.

"Good luck and good bye _mes oreilles_!" And as the entity's laughter echoed around the room a sudden wind swept through the closed house and blew out all the candles, covering everything in murky darkness. The soft *_thunk*_ of a top hat hitting the floor could be heard.

Peppermint Butler took a breath and gave a small cough, he hated cigars. He looked around the gloomy room and asked, "So? Did he help?"

_88888_

_"…People are strange when you're a stranger,_

_Faces look ugly when you're alone._

_Women seem wicked when you're unwanted_

_Streets are uneven when you're down…"_

Huntress smirked, _there she is._ Sitting up from her perch on a low tree branch Huntress Wizard looked about her. She was at the edge of a small forest in an area frequently occupied by wizards and the like. She swung down and landed with barely any noise, she leaned against the tree and enjoyed the sound of Beth's singing. She wasn't the best she had ever heard but she had a nice, clear voice and her songs were interesting. This one in particular seemed to be her favorite; Huntress had caught her singing it many times before.

When Beth rounded the bend and saw Huntress waiting for her she cut off her singing and waved, "Hey!" Huntress rolled her eyes at her enthusiastic friend, "Finally you show up." Instead of being insulted Beth just laughed, "Hey I walked here _okay_, not to mention we stayed at the Candy Kingdom very late today."

"Did the pretty princess have a lot of questions for you?" Huntress snickered. Now it was Beth's time to roll her eyes. "Whatever Huntress." A thought suddenly struck her, " Oh, right. Take a look." Reaching into her pocket Beth extracted her new key and held it up for her friend to see. "They gave me a house key." The simple joy that rose to her pretty face made Huntress Wizard take a silent gulp. She clenched her hands, now she had a key! She was officially a part of their house…and Huntress had yet to work up the nerve to ask Beth if she wanted to live with her instead and be… Ugh! She had had so many chances in the last few days but she could never get the words to leave the tip of her tongue. And now…and now she didn't know why she still hesitated except…simply not wanting to be rejected, at all.

_I'm a coward_, she thought miserably as she said "That's cool. Now we can go out whenever!" Beth didn't seem to notice her slightly fake smile, she didn't know whether to be happy about that or not. "Now come on, we need to get to the old well that's down the path; from there we will be taken to see Saire the Seer." As they made their way down the forest path Beth raised a brow, _now why does that name sound familiar?_

Oh!

"That's the guy we tried to see last time we were in Wizard City right?" Huntress nodded her head, "Yup." Beth furrowed her brows, "But I thought there would be no way in the world that Saire would talk to us after the commotion we caused." Huntress flicked her eyes over to Beth for a moment before looking back at the path, "That was true but I ended up running into one of his go between guys the other day, my friend Quentin. He had heard of what happened from the guy we used last time-Octavius-and he offered to put a good word in and see what he could do."

"And apparently he managed to snag us an interview? And now we have to go meet him in a secluded place, in the woods, crawling with magic users while we're wanted by Wizard City police?" Her disbelief was obvious; it was too good to be true. Huntress nodded her head, "I know there is a possibility of it being a trap but Quentin and I go way back, regardless of what happened I don't want to believe he would just betray me. And the opportunity is too good to truly pass up, Saire is known to give a good session for a decent price and I don't have to use an excessive amount of magic to talk to him."

She paused a moment and then sighed, "None the less, we will keep our guard up just in case and not just go out into the open. Agreed?" She looked at Beth who nodded, "Agreed."

After a while they made it to the end of the tree line, staying in the shadows they saw that the path they had been following was one of many that continued on into a clearing before disappearing into another patch of forest a while away. The clearing was of decent size and rather empty save for the well and a lone picnic table set not too far way, long forgotten. Huntress used her Wizard Eyes to look about but she couldn't see anyone hiding amongst the trees, which didn't really help to do anything except confirm her friend was indeed not there since the WCPD had several wards placed on them to be able to go undetected by wizard sight and the like, if they so wished. With a coil of dread settling into her stomach Huntress turned to Beth who after a moment of thought brought her hands up and mimicked the act of shooting an arrow. She understood, if enemies were lying in wait for movement in the clearing, she would give them some. Grabbing an ordinary arrow from her quiver she pulled her already strung bow from under her cloak and greatly enjoyed her friend's look of surprise. No matter how many times she pulled her weapon out of nowhere Beth was always amazed by her little trick.

Regrouping her mind Huntress set up the shot. She set her position and breathed in. With her breath she let the arrow loose, it hit the ground in front of the well with a quiet _*thunk*_ sound. The reaction was instantaneous, a group of nine WC fuzz shot up from behind trees-one even from the well- and blasted at the arrow with bright beams of power emitted from their faces. The two women covered their eyes so as to not be blinded by the light show; Huntress gritted her teeth as her heart sank. She was going to have to skin Quentin now; his pelt would fetch a high price at least.

When the light show finally faded they saw that the arrow had been disintegrated, so the punishment was death for trying to help a friend? _Lovely._ The group of enforcers quickly realized they had been ousted out of hiding and began to fan out, Huntress and Beth did not stick around to see if any came in their direction. They ran. But soon enough they could hear the sounds of pursuit behind them, the constant demands to stop, come quietly, and that they were under arrest only made them run all the harder. "No 'I told you so's!" Panted Huntress; Beth managed to find the breath to give a quick laugh, "Don't worry, I'm not at all happy about being right!"

Bursting out of the trees, the duo veered to the left toward another part of the forest. If they could just manage to lose them in the foliage they might have a chance. But suddenly their way was cut off when three of the WCPD gave a mighty leap and landed in front of them. The women stood back to back as the group of males closed in around them. One spoke, "Huntress Wizard you are charged with the crime of aiding a non-wizard to enter Wizard City in disguise, causing a public disturbance, and resisting arrest."

"Oh come on, that was that stupid old guy, it was Ice King's fault you even found me out!" Beth was outraged, public disturbance her ass, they just wanted to tack on the reasons to get them. Another of the officers spoke, "Silence non-wizard. Huntress Wizard due to the nature of your crimes you are sentenced to a hundred years in Wizard Jail and your accomplice will be given a swift death. If you continue to resist we are authorized to do to you as we had done to your decoy." Beth couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open; there was the Justice system for you. She missed Lupe and it's not so lethal police force.

"No chance you donks! Come and get me if you can!" With that Huntress rushed forward and punched the guy in front of her square in his bandana covered face. This signaled the start of the brawl; Beth charged forward and bodily slammed into the first male in her sights. She narrowly escaped crashing to the ground with him and quickly leaped out of the way as two beams of light suddenly converged on where she had been just moments before. These guys weren't kidding, they wanted to kill her! She looked up as another came up to her, "Stop human, give in quietly and your justice will be swift and painless!" She dodged the blast he directed at her, "Yeah right, you'll have to make me!" The guy took the bait and leapt toward her, she in turn did a quick cartwheel out of the way and when she righted herself she enjoyed the sight of the guy who had been trying to sneak up behind her unconscious with the one that had been talking. Two down.

She took a look around and saw that Huntress had managed to blast another with her magic-the guy was out cold-and was currently taking another two on. Beth was pulled out of her observations by a sudden hand on her shoulder; she looked over to see a bright shining eye about to blast her into the next world. Bringing up her fist she sent it directly into the beam and face of WC Officer. The force of the blow made the man's head face skyward with a grunt and the beam ended up shooting into the clouds like a distress beacon. Seeing him distracted Beth took the opportunity to grab the man by the shirt and lift him over her head. It was not an easy feat by any means and she struggled to keep him aloft, she looked over at a copper who was quickly coming over while demanding she release the one she had and she happily obliged by throwing the man in her hands with all her might at the one going toward her.

The two crashed to the ground but did not stay down; they got back to their feet and made their way toward her. Between them Beth glimpsed Huntress blast down another member of the fuzz. Beth quickly drew her sword and deflected a blast that would have hit her right in the face had she not been more alert, she managed to direct the beam of light off her sword and onto one of her opponents. This managed to zap the guy well and he collapsed to the ground, smoke slowly rose from his unmoving body. Three down for her, she tried the same trick again with the other guy but he wasn't as stupid, he quickly dodged out of the way. "Cease and desist human! This is your last chance for a quick end!"

"Stick it up your ass!" Yelled Beth in retort and she made her way forward, but she was slammed into from the side and hit the ground hard. Was that a crack she heard? Her vision doubled for a moment and in her dazed state idly noticed a large figure looming over her and her hands being restrained above her head. She saw a bright beam of light begin to fill up the face of the figure atop her and she was able to connect the dots, Beth managed to stop her immediate death yet again with a swift kick of her leg to a rather vital area of her opponent. With a grunt and a groan Nigel rolled off the human fugitive below him and really wished he hadn't come into work today. _Four down_ counted Beth woozily.

Unsteadily getting to her feet Beth took a look around, Huntress blasted the last of the heat and made her way over to a glassy eyed Beth. She picked up her companion's fallen weapon and handed it to her, "You alright?"

"Not really." Came the slightly wheezy reply. Beth grimaced and placed a hand gently on her now throbbing side. "Hit my head, think I cracked a rib. You?" Huntress frowned, "You did more than hit your head if you're speaking like that. I'm fine other than a few burns." To emphasize her point Huntress lifted an arm to reveal quite the burn through her gear and her skin. "Come on, we need to get out of here. These guys won't stay down for long and more are bound to be on their way." With that Huntress helped her friend sheath her sword and the two managed to disappear into the gloom of the shadowy forest.


	7. Fire and Light

_Another somewhat long chapter. Again, tell me if there is anything wrong with the story. Feed back is welcome._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, please Enjoy._

Seven

A soft hiss escaped Finn's mouth as he returned to the world of the living, when he opened his tired eyes he realized he was in a very odd situation. For starters he was now in this crazy looking laboratory-it reminded him of Princess Bubblegum's-next he noticed he was now strapped to a large metal- and highly uncomfortable- slab via manacles. He could see his backpack, sword and spelled pendant sitting on a worktable not too far away. The third and final thing he noticed was the most bizarre and it took him a while to fully register it, not too far away he could see the jerk who had crashed into FP's home arguing with said princess herself, that in turn wasn't too crazy but the thing that really caught Finn's attention was that FP was currently arguing from the clear stomach of some giant snake beast thing made of glass and gold.

If he could have Finn would have rubbed his eyes, as he continued to stare his ears decided it was time to work and he could finally hear what it was they were fighting about.

"For the last time I have no interest in you or in taking over the world! I love my boyfriend and my boyfriend is _FINN THE HUMAN_!" As she yelled, Flame Princess' body flared up, but this didn't seem to faze the beast she was inside one bit. "I don't care what my father promised you, I'm not under his power and can make my own decisions. And I choose not to marry you! Now release me before I really start to get angry." She fumed.

"Why will you not drop the act my lovely?! My dear Ignacia; you are safe here with me, as I have already explained. You no longer need to cling to that pathetic fool for protection against your father."

Was he using Flame Princess' real name? _Uh-oh_ thought Finn as he cringed; FP had a sore spot about her name. She didn't even like it when Finn said it when they were alone together, something about it not feeling right or whatever. And as he expected, she blew up.

"Don't you _dare_ call me by that name! And I don't need the likes of _you_ protecting me; I can handle my father all on my own! Now release me!" She had practically filled up the belly of the beast she was trapped in with her flames, but it didn't seem to mind at all, it didn't even shift a little.

Jarlath gave a great sigh of exasperation, "My dear, you know I have to take you to your father soon so we don't have a lot of time, and your being quite adamant about your acting so until you settle down I'm afraid I can't release you."

"Hey dingus, has it occurred to you that she might not be faking? Or that she really doesn't like you?!" Both turned in surprise to Finn who had had enough of this argument. The older man growled at Finn, "You stay out of this hero boy! Unless you want me to give you another bump on the head?" This didn't faze the hero a bit, "Go ahead and try!" He yelled as he strained against the manacles, despite his bravado Finn kind of wished he had Jake or Beth with him right now for back up. Having adventure time solo had its downsides.

The alchemist sneered and then turned back to FP, "This guy can't be serious; he actually thinks you like him!" The girl growled in frustration, "That's because I do! Listen you idiot I don't know where you got the idea that I like you, I mean you and I never even had a nice conversation! Any and every time we talked I couldn't wait for you to leave! You are the creepiest, dullest guy I have ever had the misfortune to meet. And if I were _ever_ to become ruler of the Fire Kingdom the man I would have be my king would be _Finn!_ Because he is mine! Not _you_, him! Also what makes you think my father would honor his promise anyway?! He is _Evil_! He probably only offered you me so that when the time came he could use you to help him to control me in taking over Ooo!" She paused a moment, realization flitted across her face…_My father IS Evil_, she thought. It was all so clear.

Finn stared, his mouth hung a little open. He had kind of ignored the first time FP had said she loved him but…the whole make him her king thing. His mouth went a little dry; he could feel his heart hammering in his chest in actual elation. Was he blushing? Yup, he was blushing. _Okay Finn focus!_ Finn mentally slapped himself to get back in the game; it seemed Flame Princess' words had finally gotten to the man. For he stood still, his face turned towards her, a deep frown set in his face.

"Say it again." He demanded, "Say who you would make your king again, but choose your words wisely my dear firebird. The wrong ones could have dire consequences…" He trailed off, a sick look on his face. As he spoke he had made his way over to the work table with Finn's belongings on it. He had grabbed a Bunsen burner and turned it on; then he had pulled a long serrated blade from somewhere on his person and put the blade to flame. The princess of fire and heat narrowed her eyes, "What do you plan to do with that?" She asked, her voice sounded dark.

"That all depends on what you tell me." Came his equally dark reply, "Now answer me! Who would you really rather have?! This damn, perfect little hero boy? Or me, the man that could help you takeover this land?! With me you could set flame to the very earth and rocks this land is made of! Now choose!"

With back straight and head held high the princess of the Fire Kingdom declared in a loud and steady voice, "I would choose Finn the Human as my King, and you I would sentence to death by flame for you are nothing but an _evil_ wizard who made a deal with an _evil_ king and I don't like evil things." She sounded like and looked like a true queen then, Finn felt his heart thump in his chest.

Jarlath gave a large snarl, "So sayeth the _princess!_" He bellowed as he took the red hot knife off of the fire and practically flew towards Finn, in one swift and breathless moment he grabbed Finn's right arm in his free hand and the other he used to plunge the knife deep into the juncture of where arm and shoulder met. He did not stop until the entire arm was cut off; it was not a short time. Finn screeched in pain and writhed, trying to get away but he could not. The pain was excruciating, he knew pain was just the universe giving you some love but this was too much love for his liking.

Flame Princess screamed as she saw this happening and immediately set herself aflame, she grew hotter and hotter but it was still doing nothing to the beast that held her. She looked over and saw Jarlath unshackle the now dismembered limb and actually wave it around as he walked across the room. His wicked laughter filled the space as he threw the now whimpering hero's arm into a roaring furnace which had been set up in the corner of the room, destroying any chance of reattaching it. She got even hotter; she looked like nothing but a large flower of enraged hot flames now.

His face a mask of hard ugly delight Jarlath walked over to Finn once again and holding the still hot weapon over the poor guy's left leg he turned toward the whirl-wind of fire and rage, totally ignoring how his snake creature was now actually showing signs of distress, "Now tell me, who would you rather have be king?" His threat was clear as day.

That was the final straw, with a final furious burst Flame Princess shot herself out of the magical creature's infernal intestines and shot herself at the alchemist. The man laughed as he was slammed into the wall, his rock-like skin turning pitch black and starting to come off. But he did not care, for he finally had his princess's attention, he continued to laugh as a fiery hand found his throat; Flame Princess formed herself into a goddess of fire, fury and light. Her skin blazed with white fire and her hair and dress were crackling blue flames.

**"Now Burn."** She boomed at him as she burned his flesh away; but he did not scream. He simply laughed, long and loud until there was nothing left for him to laugh with. But she kept burning, she burned until even his grinning skull was nothing but a pile of ash, and then she set fire to the whole lab, blue and white flames licked up everything except for the tiny area where Finn and that work table of his stuff resided.

All who saw it marveled at the precision and uniformity of the inferno, and almost all feared it. Finn woozily looked up and marveled at the colors and destruction with no fear in his heart. He watched as Flame Princess began to calm down and her flames cooled to their standard red and orange, everything was destroyed. He watched as FP slowly made her way over and grabbed the fire shield pendant from his stuff, she then slipped the item over his neck. It was only when it was assured he was fire proof that she burned his restraints and cuddled him on the floor where they fell in a heap. Small trails of fiery tears fell down her face as she cried, "Finn I'm so sorry! I can't believe this happened."

"It's okay FP…I love you too." She looked up into his face and for a moment just took in his weakly smiling face and the small tears of pain that fell from his eyes. It always amazed her how much pain Finn could take…and this time he took quite a bit just for her. Without a moment's worth of hesitation Flame Princess brought her face to Finn's and kissed him. At first the hero was shocked still by the contact but quickly put as much fervor as he could manage into the smooch. Both pulled apart when a voice rang out, "OOOOOHHH BOY, Look who is finally enjoying tier two!"

"Jake?!" The dog smiled at the mention of his name, beside him stood Marceline and… _Huntress Wizard? _It seemed his friends had had their own adventures during his and FP's little drama.

_88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 888888888888888888888888888888888_

_Cold. It was so cold. She opened her eyes and saw that she was practically hip deep in snow, wind blew all around her. She was surrounded by bleak, blue and white landscape; any and all details were obscured by the frost bitten winds and snow. She saw that there was a long trail of her movements behind her reaching far out past the field of her vision. She shivered, where was she? As a matter of fact where was she going? How long had she been here, it felt like an Age. Crazed maniacal laughter could be heard in the distance but she couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. She turned and saw….a man? He looked young and wore what looked like a tattered tweed suit. He was trying to make his miserable way through the snow and hadn't noticed her. She tried to call out to him and at first her voice was swallowed by the winds, but she kept trying and slowly made her way forward. She managed to get his attention and he turned toward her; he lifted a hand and called out, "Wenk!"_

Wenk?

Beth opened her eyes and stared into a pair of large soulless eyes, the creature of evil backed up and she saw it was a little black and white bird. "A penguin?" Her voice sounded so hoarse.

"Wenk!" The thing waved its arms and she realized it was standing on top of her-which really hurt. She pushed the thing off and looked around herself, and saw nothing but curtains. Pale peach colored hospital curtains to be exact. The penguin dusted itself off from where it had landed on the multi-checkered floor and after giving Beth a sour look-which she returned- it waddled off, going under the curtains as it did so Beth couldn't catch a glimpse of what was around her.

She tried to sit up but quickly gave up when she experienced quite a bit of pain, she looked down at herself and saw the clothes on her upper body were gone; they were instead piled in a chair next to the bed. In their place she saw that she was bandaged from collarbone to mid-belly in thick gauze. Looking underneath the blanket that rested at her hips she saw that she only had on the tight black shorts she liked to wear under her pants in case something happened to them so she could still be decent. Lifting a hand to her slightly achy head and she found bandages there as well. After another moment she realized there was an IV in her hand, she looked over to her side and saw that it was connected to an empty plastic bag hanging from a …candy cane stand? Well, that explained the super sweet smell coming from everything-she was back in the Candy Kingdom.

After staring at her IV for a while she realized the symbols on the label meant the bag was supposed to have painkiller, well that explained why it hurt to be alive right now. She had run out of boo-boo medicine.

_Damn, what happened?_ Oh right, now she remembered.

They had been trudging through the woods, Beth slowing them down due to some sort of internal injury and her brains being knocked around her skull. She had just begun to cough up some blood when they had heard someone grunting as they made their way over. Huntress had placed herself between Beth and the perceived threat and demanded whoever it was to show themselves. The "threat" turned out to be Ice King and…a penguin. All four of them had stared at one another in silence for a few moments but then Beth hadn't been able to help herself from coughing up some blood again. This happened to be a rather savage cough and some blood managed to drip down from her mouth and on to her chin. Both Ice King and Huntress had asked if she was alright at that and this resulted in a confrontation between her and the old man, during which the enraged sorceress had knocked the man's crown to the ground with a vicious slap. Huntress blamed Ice King for Beth's current state and the fact that WC police were after them. As if the mere mention had power, sounds of said law enforcement could be heard coming through the trees.

Beth, woozy and weak had looked up at the annoying old fart and asked in a slightly garbled and too pitiful for her tastes voice, "Can you help us?" He had looked at her then, surprise and indecision on his face before it set into determination. Without a word he replaced his crown on his head and after picking her up with surprising gentleness took off, a cursing Huntress Wizard running after them. Last she remembered was the feel of Ice King's beard and that penguin cuddling up to her. For a moment it had felt like she was with her grandfather again, he had always had the loveliest and most comfortable white beard.

How long had she been unconscious? Just as she was about to try getting up again she heard someone coming into the room, "I'm telling you, I put Gunter there to look over her and tell us when she woke up, he wouldn't have woken me or bothered you otherwise." _Ice King?_

"Right, well it's about time we checked on her anyway, but if you would can you wait over there? She's not exactly decent and you're kind of an old man." _Princess Bubblegum?_

"Bonnie be nice, he's cool. But she is right Simon you should wait over there, I know you want to see if she's okay but you can't see her unless she has a shirt on." She didn't recognize this third voice, but those names...Finn had filled Beth in on Ice King's deal so the third voice must be this Marceline he told her about.

"_What_-mon? Look, Marceline we've known each other a while now. I don't see why you keep calling me that."

"Just stand over there Ice King." Here she heard the third voice – Marceline- give a sigh. She heard an accompanying sigh from Princess Bubblegum.

"Marceline can you do me the favor of opening the curtain? Nurse Poundcake can you get the supplies, I'm sure it's about time for a new IV." Beth blinked at the voices and lifted a hand to block out the light as the curtain was pulled back; she stared at the people in front of her as they stared at her in turn.

Beth looked at the gray skinned woman who was actually _floating_ off the ground and something clicked, "You were the face I saw… in the window." Her voice sounded horrible to her ears. The woman smirked and raised a brow, she turned to the pink monarch next to her and said, "Well I guess we don't have to worry about any memory loss or anything. She seems just fine to me, besides that voice. I think she needs some water." Beth nodded her head in affirmation of that and a second later a cup was being pressed to her lips by this small female who looked like a cake in a nurse outfit.

Princess Bubblegum nodded, "None the less we have to be sure of her mental faculties. Beth, how are you feeling? Do you know who I am and where you are?" The cup was taken from her lips but the little woman didn't go away, she just stood to the side holding the cup.

Beth couldn't help the smirk that flitted across her face at the questions. "Hello Princess….everything hurts and… my heads feels a little like its' full of cotton. I'm in a Candy Kingdom hospital?" She couldn't be as articulate as she wished to be but at least her throat and voice were better. PB nodded her head and seemed to read her mind for she said, "Don't worry, your speaking abilities are just a little disused. You've kinda been out of it for a while now. And you're actually in the Royal Infirmary in the castle. Nurse Poundcake would you please replace the IV?" As the little candy woman went to do as she was bid Beth couldn't help but raise a brow. "How long have I been…out? How did I…get here? Was in the… forest with Huntress…and the old guy."

"Hi." Everyone turned to Ice King, who was suddenly standing on the other side of the bed next to Marceline who had floated over there while PB and Beth were talking. He had his hands over his eyes, respecting the whole "decency" thing. Beth blinked as Bubblegum yelled his name and told him to get out of there, "Why is your crown…tied in your beard?"

"I don't really feel like wearing it right now. You okay? All that blood…and you've kinda been in a coma ever since the surgery so..."

_"Surgery?! Coma?!"_ She had managed to sit up during her outburst but quickly flopped back on the bed as she had a major coughing fit. "Marceline get him out of here!" Yelled an annoyed PB, as the Vampire Queen lead the old man out of the curtained area Nurse Poundcake finally set about inputting new painkiller. Beth felt a slight tingle when it was finally connected and looked to Bubblegum and she brought out a stethoscope. "If you calm down and let me examine you I'll explain everything."

She nodded her head and sat back up as instructed, as she took slightly painful deep breaths Bubblegum explained what had gone down.

Apparently when Beth had been tackled to the ground by that WC cop it had not only given her a bloody concussion but also had managed to break two ribs and caused the tip of one of them to go and puncture her lung, causing said organ to partially fill with blood and not expand properly. Ice King- having an odd moment of empathy which seemed yet to have ended-had actually taken her here. Or at least tried to, he got halfway here before running into PB, Marceline, Pep and Jake who were making their own way to the castle. Needless to say it was a big old mess of confusion as the two groups tried to deal with one another. The crazy only escalated when everyone assumed Ice King was kidnapping an unconscious and bloody Beth this time instead of some poor princess, that situation only paused when Huntress had caught up to the group and shot an arrow into the middle of it to shut everyone up.

Beth giggled at that, Huntress was never really one to tolerate hysterics or the like. PB wasn't as amused, then or now. As she switched to checking some charts coming out of a machine in the wall next to the bed she continued.

Turns out PB, Marceline and Pep had found out where her father's grave was –Beth sighed sadly at that-from talking to a source PB wasn't too eager to explain about and had been told to check up on the siblings. Well a quick call to a then sleeping Jake-who was equally worried about both missing siblings not being back yet when he checked- the four had converged and made their way to the castle, after Huntress explained what had happened and Ice King interjected saying he knew PB would be able to help Beth the entire group continued on together. This had all happened about four days ago.

"Where is…Huntress now?" Beth couldn't help interrupting Princess Bubblegum's explanation; she needed to know how her friend was. But the monarch didn't seem annoyed at all, as she checked the flow of the bag of pain killer she said, "She's resting in the bed next to you right now. She hadn't slept the majority of the last few days. Both she and Ice King made quite the sight sitting together awkwardly as they worried over you. I had to give them both a sedative so they would get some rest, and although Ice King is up I suggest we wait before waking your wizard friend. She's got some nasty burns and it would be better if her body recharges as much as possible."

And she also didn't want _another_ wizard running around her castle just yet, but she kept that to herself.

Beth furrowed her brows, "Why was Ice King…worried about me?" She got a shrug in response, "My guess is that when he saw you in the woods you reminded him of someone he cared about or something. The dude's all messed in the head; it's kinda hard to tell." Beth frowned a little at PB's somewhat indifferent tone but didn't comment on it; instead she asked why they had been on their way to the castle before meeting up with her and the wizards.

To her credit Princess Bubblegum was at least sheepish in admitting she had placed a tracking device on Finn and that they were headed to her castle so she could use her equipment to pinpoint his location, but Beth couldn't even blame her after hearing what happened to her poor brother.

While Beth had been placed under the knife to fix her ribs and lung Finn and Flame Princess had been kidnapped by the sorcerer who had sent those golems after FP, he had wanted to try to make the poor girl rule the world with him and had taken Finn's arm when she refused. He had already been outfitted with a temporary claw arm-thankfully the jerk used a heated knife on Finn so his wound was cauterized as it happened and thus there was not too much blood loss-plans were already in the works to get him a proper artificial limb. Beth felt the chill go down her spine as she remembered her dream from her first night on Finn's couch; she knew what his new arm would look like.

She took dark delight in hearing how FP had handled the creep Jarlath. She then raised both brows almost to her hairline at the conspiracy of the Fire King purposefully trying to make his daughter a ticking time bomb…and the fact that she wasn't even really his daughter. The night when the current Fire King had taken the throne by murdering his brother the then good king Aurelius Sula-an event that really no one outside the Fire Kingdom knew about- his wife Zandra had gone into labor and after birthing a baby girl, had died from the strain. The new ruler already had his first son at the time but had decided to adopt the girl and claim her and present her as his own and told his citizens that his brother's child had died with the mother.

"How do…you know all this?" She could barely believe her ears. She looked at the pink woman before her who was now sitting on the edge of the bed facing her, her examination now done.

"Seems Finn managed to make a friend of another member of the Fire Kingdom to the point of being an informant for him, he –Flambo is his name- had come in yesterday as everyone was healing and regrouping and went on about how he had found out the King's secrets and had barely escaped with his life…poor little guy was about to collapse. He told us everything, it was quite the shock."

"So where are my brother and… the flame princess?" And Jake and this Flambo guy for that matter.

"Well…" Beth frowned at the monarch's tone.

As the human and sugary monarch had talked Marceline had moved Ice King far enough away that they couldn't hear the two women speaking. At first the two had just stood there, sharing an odd yet companionable silence for a little while.

"You know you really shouldn't have walked into the curtained area." said Marceline, a laugh in her voice. The old man at her side gave a small chuckle and said, "Yes I suppose so, but I wanted to see if she was okay. I guess I didn't really think about what was appropriate or not." The Vampire Queen blinked at the man to her side, she watched as he picked up his penguin like he would a child and noticed his skin looked a little less blue; his looks had been very subtly changing the last few days. A fragile bit of hope fluttered in her chest as she looked at him.

"I…I still have Hambo." Never mind that length of time that stupid sky-witch had it. The blank look she got made her heart sink a little but then the ghost of a smile appeared on the man's face, he looked over at the "young" woman at his side and said, "I don't know why but I'm glad you do, whatever a _Hambo_ is." Marceline gave a small smile, it wasn't much recognition but it was a start, casting a quick glance to the crown still tied in the man's beard she wondered if he would just keep the thing on him but not put it on would he start to remember? She was brought out of her musings when Beth gave a large, painful sounding shout that sent even the comatose Huntress Wizard into sudden wakefulness.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN JAKE, THAT FLAMBO GUY AND MY NOW _ONE-ARMED_ BROTHER WENT WITH HER TO CONFRONT THE FIRE KING?!"

_Artistic license on Finn's arm injury, totally calling it now._


	8. Plans

_Quick thanks to all everyone who has read/reviewed/followed/Favorited or just checked out my story, you guys tell me what I'm writing is actually interesting. So Thank You Kindly. Now enough of my jabber._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, Enjoy._

Eight.

Princess Bubblegum gave a soft, tired growl as she took a seat behind her desk in her study, she slowly rubbed her temples. She looked up and gave a sigh as she watched Huntress Wizard sit in a chair in front of the desk in a VERY unladylike fashion-she too gave a tired sigh as she dropped her weapons to the ground-and Marceline floated about the room. The trio had just returned from the Infirmary, Beth had gone totally _postal_ at the mention of her brothers going with Flame Princess all alone. Even more so when it was explained that in following the laws and agreements between the leaders of Ooo none of them could interfere; since Bubblegum, Marceline –and yes even Ice King- were leaders of their own respective Kingdoms-never mind Marceline's was a tad more underground than most- they could not interfere or it would seem as if they were invading or meddling.

Since Beth was family to Finn and Jake –two neutral beings that were really only sided with justice and peace-she could do something but she had only just woken from a coma and her body was fresh with stitches and the like. It would be ill advised for her to move about the infirmary, let alone go after her family. Especially since it was a dispute within the royalty of the Fire Kingdom that was happening; any movement on the leaders' part would speak of undo allegiance and that could lead to some pretty bad stuff and Beth would be on a suicide mission to go into dangerous territory in her state.

When the human turned to Huntress the sorceress haltingly explained that she would have no part of it either, she admitted to liking Finn and Jake but that was not enough for her to risk herself or Beth for that matter. Huntress was a wanderer, a wizard out for her own just like any other especially now since she was wanted by her own kind; no way was she going to interfere with two Fire Elementals about to "throw blows" as she put it. Her frown had been deep and hurt when her companion had heatedly called them all cowards, it only deepened when she tried to leave her bed to get to her brothers. Immediately they had tried to stop her, Marceline and Nurse Poundcake doing their best to hold the injured but still strong woman down, Huntress trying to reason with her all the while. But she didn't listen, pleading with them all to help her family; tears began to leave her eyes even as her anger rose and she tried harder to leave the bed.

But suddenly her struggles stopped and she went limp like a doll, slumping forward on the bed. PB had hit her with a syringe of sedative, after tucking the human back in bed the sugary monarch had ordered Ice King to watch her and directed the Vampire Queen and Huntress Wizard to "kindly" follow her to her study to discuss a course of action. Now here they all sat, the few capable minds in the know all huddled together waiting to discuss everything. Well, almost everyone.

Peppermint Butler walked into room with glasses of water and orange slices, "Here we are; refreshments for all." He said in a tired but pleasant voice before he sat down, now they were all here. Well, in PB's mind everyone was here.

"I think Ice King should be a part of this talk too, he's crazy but he's dealt with Flame Princess before-"

Marceline was interrupted by a sigh from Bubblegum, "No, his brain is too far gone to be of any real help right now Marceline. I'm not willing to deal with him right now so he's going to stay downstairs and watch Beth." Her tone spoke of finality, Huntress looked over at the Vampire Queen and although she looked like she wished to say more she didn't and the matter was dropped.

Everything was quiet until Huntress cleared her throat and said, "So what do we do? We have a little while before the fire princess does her campaign on her uncle and everything starts to get toasty."

"We do nothing really, there is nothing to do except plan evacuations of the areas around the Fire Kingdom and the Desert Lands and inform the other Kingdoms of the power shift. Since this will be a Royal Duel it will be an impressive but controlled event, at least I hope it will be." She had heard many reports of Flame Princess' inferno of rage and how devastating yet concentrated it was, she hoped the same would occur.

Suddenly a phone could be heard ringing; blinking in surprise Princess Bubblegum opened a drawer in her desk and picked up the receiver of her special, private phone line. "Hello?" Everyone watched as PB gave a sigh as she listened to the other person on the line. "Lady calm down, you know Finn and Jake can handle…" She trailed off; increasingly rapid words could be heard coming from the receiver.

"Lady you know I can do nothing I-" She was cut off again and said, "Beth is uh…_resting_ in the infirmary, she won't be getting up or doing anything for a while." She paused again, "Well that sounds like a very interesting dream but there's no way he could have talked to you lady he-" She was interrupted again and then looked at the phone in shock when it suddenly hung up. As she put the phone away Princess Bubblegum brought two fingers to her temple and began to rub, casting a look to her curious audience she said, "That was Lady Rainicorn; it seems Finn, Flame Princess and Jake made a quick stop at the tree house before going to Flame Princess' home to hole up for the night so she can make her challenge with the rising sun as is Fire Kingdom custom. He gave her a call several hours ago from his cellphone so as not to worry her, obviously it didn't work. Not too long ago she had woken from a nap and had this odd dream concerning Jake and Finn's father Joshua telling her she must help Beth get to the Fire Kingdom."

Several eyebrows raised at that, "So what do you want to do about it?" asked Huntress Wizard.

PB shook her head, "Nothing, it was just a dream and even if it wasn't there is still nothing we can do."

"But Princess-" Peppermint Butler was cut off as PB slammed her fists on the desk, "I said NO! Pep you should know more than anyone how my hands are tied on this, as much as I'd like to do something else I cannot. Finn and Jake are capable adventurers and know how to handle themselves-something they have proven time and again. Beth's body is too weak to handle anything above minimal medical attention at this point, after everything I had to do during her procedure. If I were to try to do anything to speed up her healing process her very tissues might give out and although I have made many achievements in the field of body animation and reconstruction I can do nothing if a body has no more juice to give. Lady's dream may or may not have significance but at this point it is _her_ problem._ Our_ problem is to organize how to get word out as quickly and efficiently as possible and prepare for either eventuality of the fight between Flame Princess and the current Flame King. Does everyone understand?!" She was breathing heavily now, red in the face.

Marceline floated behind the flustered monarch and started to rub her shoulders, "Calm down Bonnie." She said soothingly, when PB had finally sat back down in her chair she turned to Huntress and Pep, "She's right guys, there's really nothing we can do at this point. Pep go and get the phones, were going to have make a few calls." As the candy man grudgingly got up to do as he was bid the Vampire Queen turned to Huntress Wizard, "Can you help and spread word to the Wizards? Maybe they can like help get people out of the way or whatever." The sorceress sighed and took off her hood, revealing her full head of leafy, emerald green hair, "I might have a few contacts that will listen to what I have to say, with something this serious I think they will have to."

And with that they set to work, spreading word of the coming confrontation and making agreements for residents to be evacuated to safer lands. The only worry left was the possible damage to surrounding forests and the like, a worry that was quickly put to rest when Huntress disclosed her connection to the Troll King Cedric. Princess Bubblegum had to give her props to the wizard for that, trolls had quite the connection to the forest and although a friendly enough bunch didn't really let one into their fold unless they had won their respect or were of the forest or nature. None of the monarchs of Ooo that were not connected to water or the land could really get Cedric to open up to them.

They were just beginning to finish up their calls when a breathless Ice King barged into the door, Marceline noticed he had a black eye. "Beth is gone, I couldn't stop her." He said, very visibly distressed. Bubblegum just stared at him, her left eye beginning to twitch. They all turned to the window behind Princess Bubblegum when a shout was heard, "ADVENTURE TIME!"

All eye widened at the scene of Beth riding on Lady Rainicorn's back, the setting sun casting their long shadows upon the ground as they flew over the town.

Huntress' eyes widened, "Beth! No, how could she leave without me? Flopping DONK!" All turned to the suddenly fuming sorceress and watched as she quickly donned her cloak-she had taken it off over the course of the afternoon- and picked up her weapons. "I'm out!" She then uttered a quick phrase and was gone with a clap of her hands and a flash of indigo magic. PB turned back to the window and watched as Lady Rainicorn faded into the distance, _"Oh Glob geben mir Kraft."_ She intoned softly.

_88888_

_Beth opened her eyes and growled, she knew she was asleep this time and as a result the landscape around her was empty for the most part. Just blue sky and grassy fields as far as the eye could see. No sun though, just light from above. She couldn't believe they had sedated her, like she was some kind of mental patient. She fumed; here she was stuck in her damn stupid dream land while her brothers went to support the "New Fire Queen", or how FP would be addressed if she succeeded in overthrowing her father. Dammit, she didn't like being stuck on the sidelines. She ran a hand through her loose hair and started walking, no destination in mind. Suddenly she saw a table up ahead; as she kept walking she saw there were two chairs and a tea set on the table. In one of the chairs was a vaguely familiar figure wearing a fedora, "Jake?"_

_The figure laughed, "Oh no, I'm Joshua. I'm Jake and Finn's Poppa, please have a seat my dear. We have some things to talk about." She blinked in surprise as she took a seat; she looked at her companion as he set out tea for the both of them in a gentlemanly manner. She noted that although the dog before her resembled Jake greatly he was a bit more fit looking than Jake was and was of a somewhat duller color. He looked just like the pictures Finn and Jake had shown her._

_"Now then, it seems my boys have gotten themselves into a pickle with the Flame Princess and her Evil Uncle. My dear you have to go and help with the effort." Beth gave a huff, "I tried, but in case you haven't noticed they tranquilized me and locked me in dream land. How do you even know this? I mean no offense but dude your DEAD! Like Finn and Jake told me you already ascended or whatever to the 50__th__ dead world. How do I know this isn't just some weird dream?" The dog gave a laugh," I am and I did! That doesn't mean I don't try to keep an eye on my boys from time to time or that this isn't real. But I will admit it is a bit hard to help but you my dear have quite the bit of magic mojo going on, especially when you dream." She blinked, "What?"_

_"Oh yes, but that's something you have to figure out for yourself later, now then I've already managed to get you a ride with Jake's lady friend. She will take you straight to the Fire Kingdom, when you're there you must sneak in and release Flame Princess' brothers Furnius and Torcho from the dungeon, thankfully the Flame King hasn't gotten around to extinguishing them yet. When she wins the duel she will need their support, with all of the rightful and good aligned royalty of the house of Sula back in power it should realign the rest of the kingdom to how they were before the current Flame King came to power. Not to mention if they're with you then the old match stick can't use them against her or kill them off. Beth blinked in disbelief, "Um...how am I supposed to do that? I don't know where the dungeons are, I've never been to the Fire Kingdom…and what do you mean realign the rest of the kingdom?" Her eyes narrowed in her confusion._

_Joshua laughed a bit, "Yes, well you see elementals such as the citizens of the Fire Kingdom are connected to their leaders, if their King or Queen is good the lot of them are good-although degrees shall vary because they still are individuals, if the King or Queen are evil the citizens will likewise be so. Only those of royalty can have their own individual alignments and the like." Beth stared, "That sucks." Joshua laughed again and agreed._

_"Why are you telling me this? Why not Jake or Finn or even one of their other allies?" _

_"Because they have their own parts to play, also they're not asleep. But most importantly because you're the most capable for the job, you're a hero just as much as Finn is so I know you can do it. Finn's going to need you at the end of all this."_

_Beth gave a sigh but nodded her head, "Alright. But how do I wake up?"_

_Joshua grinned, "I'll handle that, good luck and goodbye my dear it was very nice to talk to you. I'm glad you and Finn found one another." Beth blinked._

She stared at the ceiling, she was awake. "It was nice to meet you too." She said softly. She looked around her and saw that the light outside had dimmed; turning to the sound of soft snoring to her left she saw that Ice King was sitting in her little curtained area, he and his penguin were asleep. She tried to get up but she realized she really couldn't move. Looking down she saw that her hands were tied down to the railings of the bed, she frowned as she moved about and saw that her hands were bound by thick manacles that were connected to each railing. Honestly, it was like she _was_ a _fragging_ mental patient.

With a bit of maneuvering-and some luck due to the chains being a bit long- she brought one manacle to her face and discovered it smelled of sugar, taking a tentative lick she found they were made of some rock candy. She stared and thanked her good fortune, making a quick decision she went about licking through the chains instead of the manacles themselves to save time. After what felt like an eternity she managed to free herself from the bed, she then made quick and quiet work of taking out her IV-the bag was empty again anyway-and dressed. It was a tad painful to move-and the manacles still on her wrists made putting her jacket and her gauntlets on no easier-but she would live as long as she didn't strain herself too much.

Just as she was leaving the curtained room she heard something that made her freeze, "Wenk."

She turned to see Ice King's little penguin glaring at her, "Uh no sweetie…uh Gunther right? How about you go back to sleep, okay?" The penguin immediately waved its arms and started making more wenking noises which woke up Ice King. _Damn, shouldn't have pushed the stupid thing to the floor like that._

"W-what? Hey, you're not supposed to be –wah!" Making another quick decision Beth gave a quick punch to the old man's face-effectively knocking him over- and ran to the window of the infirmary. To her utter luck she could see Jake's multicolored lady flying toward the castle on her side of the palace, she quickly waved her hands and managed to get her attention. She climbed on the window sill and turned back to Ice King who was now sitting up on the floor and rubbing at a new black eye, "Sorry dude, but I have to help my brother's wage some war." With that she gave a jump out the window and landed on Lady's back, despite everything she couldn't help but give a whoop as she felt the exhilaration of flying. As Lady went around the castle in the direction of the Flame Kingdom she let out a yell of "ADVENTURE TIME" and enjoyed the feeling of the wind whipping her loose hair around.

Her bit of adventure fancy ended when she felt a weight suddenly settle behind her and a pair of arms wrap around her hips. She turned back to see a not too amused Huntress Wizard behind her.

"괜찮아 다인가? 거기에 지금은 내 뒤쪽에 다른 사람." Said Lady in worried tone. Beth quickly turned back to her and said, "E-everything is fine, it's just Huntress hitching a ride, she's cool." She really couldn't understand the language Lady spoke but she could sense what she was asking. The rainicorn nodded her head and changed their direction just a bit. Beth turned her head and said, "I thought you weren't going to get yourself 'mixed up' in all of this?" Huntress huffed and said, "True but like heck I was going to let you go all alone and get killed. I don't appreciate being left behind."

Her grip on Beth's hips tightened as she spoke and Beth felt a chill go down her spine at her friend's tone, "Okay, okay. Sorry but I was in a hurry; but you're here now so that's what matters." Huntress gave a huff but agreed, but while her aura relaxed her grip on Beth didn't. The young woman couldn't really complain though.

Huntress smirked, "I can see you didn't have a lot of time, you still have the candy shackles on your wrists, gives you a cool look." Beth looked down at the manacles with bits of chain still hanging from them and scoffed, "More like that some kind of criminal or something." This got a laugh from the woman behind her.

"So what's the plan?"

"We're going to sneak into the Fire Kingdom and break Flame Princess' brothers Furnius and Torcho out of the dungeons. Flame Princess is going to need them for when she takes over the kingdom." Beth couldn't help but wince as the grip on her hips tightened a bit more, "You want to go right into the Flame Kingdom?! This is a terrible plan."

"Don't look at me, Jake's dad came up with it!"

"그는 일을 매우 확실 듯하고 화염 공주 이길 것입니다." Intoned Lady; a bit off put herself.

Huntress gave a huff, "Let me guess, he talked to you in a dream?" Beth blinked, "Yeah actually, he said he could because I had dream magic or something."

"그리고 내 존재는 많은 파장 평면에 존재합니다." Put Lady helpfully.

Huntress furrowed her brows for a moment and then sighed, "Okay whatever. Let's just try not to get killed, and we'll talk later about that dream magic stuff."

"Sounds good to me." Said Beth.

The two women settled and the trio flew off into the early evening.

_(Several hours later)_

The moon was high in the sky as the trio neared the lands of the Fire Kingdom.

"Okay, just like we planned, Lady, jumble the light waves to give us some invisibility. Huntress, get out the heat shield amulets from my bag." Both females did as bid and Beth couldn't help but stare as it suddenly looked like she was going through the air herself, instead of riding on Lady's back.

_Good thing I'm not afraid of heights._ She thought as she slipped an amulet over Lady Rainicorn's head. They coasted over the fiery lands and Beth felt her heart start to thud in her chest a little painfully in her excitement. She gazed down at the various seas of lava and fields of fire and molten rock and prayed her brothers would be safe through this venture. As they neared the Fire Palace Huntress took a look around and pointed to an out cropping near the castle. "Over there, land there and while she hides we can go and sneak into the palace."

Lady landed and the two humanoids slid off her back. "Okay, Lady just keep an eye out, if we're not caught we'll signal you when we escape with the princes. Then we can meet up with the guys."

With a salute Lady said, "내가 필요 할 때까지 위치를 개최한다." Beth nodded her head, "I didn't get any of that but okay. Let's go Huntress." Beth and Huntress made their way slowly toward the fiery fortress. They stared at the guards and Beth rubbed her head in thought over how to get past them, Huntress tried not to face palm. The two watched as the bored guards idly chatted for a while and then their eyes widened as they started walking toward them, both got ready for a hopefully quiet smack down when the guards walked past their hiding spot and preceded to go behind some rocks instead. Steam could be heard coming from them and both women made faces when they realized they were taking a leak.

Seeing their opportunity Beth and Huntress rushed to door the guards had been guarding, they slipped silently and pressed themselves to the wall. Seeing the coast was clear they picked a direction and they sneaked down the hall.

_Into the belly of the beast_, thought Beth grimly.

_A/N: Details of this chapter might change depending on how the new episode Frost and Fire goes._


	9. The Duel

_Ugh, this did not want to get written. _

_A/N: In accordance to the new episode Frost & Fire: Since my little tale is set sometime in the future just assume Finn and Flame Princess eventually made up._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

Disclaimer: _I own nothing! Now Enjoy._

Nine

Finn watched the moon begin to set; it would soon be time to set out. He looked over at Jake who was deep in sleep, his foot twitching every once in a while. He would have to wake him up soon; Flame Princess said she had to challenge her now-uncle at sunrise. It all had to do with ceremony and symbolism and all that, he had only half listened since he was too worried about everything. Not that he let that show of course, he was the ever smiling Finn the Hero; he couldn't let anything bother him.

But a few things did, like the fact that his girlfriend was about to go head to head with the man she once _thought was her father_ out of revenge and wanting to set her kingdom free from his evil. Second was the fact that his _barely out of a coma_ sister, Lady Rainicorn and Huntress Wizard were –at this exact moment- sneaking through the Fire Kingdom to release FP's blood brothers from the dungeons. Princess Bubblegum had called them, sounding a bit hysterical, and warned them that if Beth over exerted herself she could break the mending on either her lung or side. This lead right into the third thing that bothered him: the fact that his weakened sister would have to _wander_ the halls of the Flame Palace instead of just phasing through it all on Lady's back due to all the spell charms and such the Flame King had installed.

Fire elementals didn't appreciate wizards or random magical creatures doing whatever they liked in their turf, just like everyone else. He knew this because he had helped Flame Princess put a bunch of magic wards and so on around the home he made for her. So if Beth ran into any trouble or –worse- was captured it would be some very bad news; not that anyone really seemed to care, both FP and Flambo had commented on how good it was that someone was already working on releasing her brothers and Jake was mainly concerned about Lady Rainicorn. This was understandable, but still he didn't like he was the only one that was really worried. Fourthly Finn worried about how effective he could be as an adventurer with his new arm.

He looked at said appendage, and clicked his new claw-hand, PB had hastily made it for him so he wouldn't be left handicapped-she had already experimented with the idea of mind controlled artificial limbs a couple weeks back- and promised that she would make him a new arm at a later date. The arm moved when his brain told it to-and only from time to time hurt at the seams- and seemed pretty strong but he didn't know if it would be the same. He had thought about getting fake body parts before but now faced with the reality of it…he wasn't so sure. He frowned and looked up at the sky again, he shouldn't be thinking like this right before everything, Flame Princess needed him and Jake to help keep the citizens out of the way and help Beth and Huntress with their plan. Part of the guys' original job had been to get her brothers-if they were indeed still alive- so the kingdom could see the entire, _rightful_ royal house back in power.

Flame Princess had explained that she needed them to do that because she would be too busy fighting the Flame King and didn't want him trying to use them against her or just outright killing them for the sake of giving her fewer allies. He turned to look at Flame Princess, after everything had been planned out she had sat herself in the corner and begun to meditate so as to clear her mind and be one with her "inner fire" when she faced her uncle. Flambo had curled himself at her feet and gone to sleep saying he'd wake everyone up when it was time to leave. The boys had tried to follow their example but while Jake had managed to go to a somewhat fitful sleep, Finn wasn't able to.

He just hoped everything would work out in the end.

_88888_

Ice King looked at himself in the rock candymirror in the bathroom of the Royal Infirmary; he rubbed at his new black eye. He frowned; he could barely get the eye open.

_That's what you get when you help heroes Simon. That's what happens when you don't just…_freeze_ them all…_

The voice was otherworldly; it held a frosty bitterness of someone or something that had never known warmth and the agelessness of the frost itself.

_You helped that girl and what does she do? She attacks you and leaves you like this; without even a proper thank you. Ungrateful _woman.

Ice King looked down at his crown; it was still tied to his beard and looked kind of lonely. He hadn't worn it a few days…was his beard always this light gray color?

"Yeah well…she was in a hurry; she had to go help Finn. And she did apologize."

_You think she meant that? She is not of the ice and snow; none of these fools are. Why do you remain here and not place me on your head?_

"I-I want to help, crazy stuff is about to happen and I want to help Marceline and Princess Bubblegum however I can."

_Why? _

"Well because they're my road dogs…my friends, I want to help Marceline."

The voice gave a laugh that was raspy and held an icy edge to it. _FRIENDS?! Simon…my dear, dear Ice King these people are not your friends._I_ am your only friend. These…children care nothing for you, not those humans, not your _precious_ Marceline. Only me…and Princess Bubblegum._

Ice King blinked at that and frowned, "Hey, don't you be talking bad of Marceline, she's cool. And PB doesn't like me like that." He paused a moment and looked at himself in the mirror for a sad moment before saying, "I don't really think she ever did, sure strung me along for a while though. Actually I think she and Marceline have something going on nowadays. It's actually kinda cute."

_None sense Simon! Sweet Princess Bubblegum adores you, just like Betty did. We should capture her and take her back to the ice and snow…I'm sure she will show her love in private."_ The voice had taken on an almost hypnotic note, the frigid thing doing its best to numb everything but its own reasoning. _Just place me back on your head dear…you have not made any ice or frost in a long while. You should fill this place with our blessed ice and snow and take the girl. _

The ancient man unwound the bewitched headgear and looked at it, "But…she's not mine, Marceline likes her. If I took her…I'd be hurting Marceline and-

_FORGET ABOUT THAT HALF-BREED COLD FISH. She only extents what appears to be care because she wishes to use you. Now do as I command, Place. Me. On. Your. Head. And we will depart._

Ice King frowned, "I don't like how you're talking about Marceline…and what if I don't _feel_ like taking Bubblegum huh?" He could feel the metal become colder in his very hands.

_SIMON-_

"Simon are you alright in there? Who are you talking to?" It was Marceline, she sounded worried. Concerned, Ice King opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom and looked at the woman's slightly frowning face. He tried to smile reassuringly, "Oh hey, I'm okay. I was just talking to my crown." He pointed to said thing-which had suddenly grown silent-with his free hand.

Marceline frowned, _talking to his crown?_ She thought, she had come down here to talk to Ice King-PB wanted some solo sleep time to charge for the day tomorrow and she knew the old man would be up-and had heard him talking in the bathroom. It sounded like someone was trying to get him to do something to the castle and its sugary monarch…and if it was the crown…

"How about you tie that bad boy back in your beard and you and I can talk instead."

"You actually want to talk to me?" His incredulous voice and expression broke her heart a little.

"Of course I do Simon; I love you-in a platonic way." She had to make that clear; Ice King was still Ice King.

Ice King smiled at that, it wasn't romantic love but he was fine with that. He quickly tied his beard around his crown and said, "Okay, but seriously babe you need to stop calling me that. What kind of dorky name is Simon anyway?"

Despite being saddened that he still didn't identify with his name Marceline laughed, even as she shook her head at being called "babe", "Just come on."

It was going to be a long night.

_88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 8888888888888888888888_

Furnius cracked his eyes a little open at the sound of the dungeon door opening. He sat in a large glass holding cell that was made of the same material as the lamp his uncle had placed his dear daughter in. Confusion ran rampant through his mind, not only was it not the weekly feeding day but it was far too early for anyone to come into the dungeon. The feeders only came in around noon and he could feel that sunrise was only a little ways away- that's what happens when you're the first borne of a house whose name meant "sun"- for a moment he thought it was his despicable uncle or one of his underlings, come to finally finish the job. His eyes darted over to his brother; Torcho was still asleep in his own cell.

But to Furnius' utter disbelief it was not his uncle but two females, wearing the telltale blue of flame shield to be exact. He was so surprised by these unexpected arrivals that he could not stay his forked tongue, "Whatsss thisss now? I am either sssaved or doomed." One of the figures turned her head while the other closed the door, as she came closer Furnius was able to make a few details in the dim light. The woman wore a pale hood and had bright green eyes, familiar green eyes.

" I am doomed." Not his strongest joke but he had been in a dungeon for how long? He cut himself some slack.

The sorceress quirked her lips up.

"Long time, no sssee Huntresss. What bringsss you to the toasssty ssside of Ooo?" Better.

"Her." Came the nonchalant reply as the second figure walked up to his cell, he noted the dark-green?-hood over her head and the wisps of lightly colored hair that peeked through. Her face was familiar but he could not place it, it was rather pretty though. He narrowed his eyes," Have we met?"

She gave a soft grin, "No. Bethilda Mertens-but you can call me Beth, nice to meet you. I see you have already met Huntress." She paused a moment to eye her companion, Furnius concluded the sorceress had not said anything of them meeting before. "We'll be breaking you out today." The former crown prince of the Flame Kingdom stared at the women before him, "Why?"

It was Huntress who answered-Beth had crouched down and started working on picking the metal lock with some tools from her bag-he would never understand how they managed to have metal locks to a glass cell- "Not too long from now Flame Princess is going to arrive and declare a Duel with the Flame King. It's our job to get you out of here before the fireworks start."

"Why would Flame Princessss declare war on her father? And who gave you thisss job?" He asked suspiciously, he was too weak to get himself and his brother out of a situation if this turned out to be a bad rescue.

_-click-_

The woman-Beth-rose and as she opened the door and said, "Long story short turns out Flame Princess is actually your sister-not the Flame King's daughter- and she's coming to reclaim the throne and she's currently dating my brother Finn the Human; which is why we're here."

He stared at her for a single flabbergasted moment and then gave a low hiss, "You lie. My sssissster died the sssame night my mother and father did. Why would my uncle claim her asss hisss own?"

"Look, we don't have time for this, you will see soon enough. Now come on, we have to get your brother out too." Furnius stared at her a moment and then said, "I would if I could, but it ssseemsss my _dear_ uncle wasss ssso adamant about usss not leaving he chained usss to the wall." To emphasize his point Furnius raised his left arm and rattled the chains of his manacles, they had not been visible before because they had been made of the same clear glass material as his cell was. Again don't ask him how they managed to do that, for he did not know.

Beth gave a groan; they didn't have time for this. She turned to Huntress for a moment and the sorceress gave a sigh. "I'll go get sleeping beauty over there, you finish with prince _charming_." Despite everything Beth couldn't help but grin at Huntress' joke. As her companion went to the other cell Beth walked in and sat down near Furnius. She noticed how the guy tensed so she made sure to move slow and then held out her hand to both silently ask for his and to show she meant no harm. After eyeing her for a few moments he relented and gave her his left hand to work on first; that was his better hand. She gave a soft grin and set to work, they sat in silence for a few seconds before Furnius said, "You sssay Finn the Human isss your brother?"

"Yup." He narrowed his eyes, "He'sss the one who got us put in here; he interrupted our assssassssination plot on our uncle in a misssguided attempt to help the Flame King." He got a hum in response, he frowned. "How do you know you are not alssso being misssguided?"

_-click-_

As the manacle snapped off Beth looked up at male fire elemental, "Look I understand your skepticism, I really do. But I swear this is what is happening right now, I don't know why Flame King took Flame Princess but I do know that if we don't get you two out of here you will either be killed or used against her. Have a little faith." She paused a moment and gave the hand she still held a quick squeeze, "And since it was my brother who got you in here, it's only fitting I be the one to get you out. Older siblings have to help right the wrongs of the younger ones right?"

Furnius looked at her silently; he could hear the quiet voice of Huntress explaining things to his brother as she worked to free him. He noted how his brother was not calling for him and how Beth waited patiently for him to answer despite the obvious hurry she was in. He gave a small hiss; curse the trusting nature his father gave him that he still couldn't completely get rid of. He gave the human's hand a quick squeeze back before switching it with the other one, "Very well human, I will _have faith_, asss you sssay. Do not _disssappoint_."

Beth smirked as she worked on the shackle, the guy still managed to sound somewhat sardonic even when he gave in. _I can already tell being with this guy is going to be a lot of fun._ She thought ruefully.

_-click-_

"Ta da." Good thing she had practiced on those stupid candy manacles on the way here, it had helped her get back into practice faster. Furnius rubbed his wrists for a moment before getting up; he had to use the wall for support when his legs wobbled. He ignored the hand Beth offered him, when he felt his feet steady he slowly stood himself up and followed the human out of the cell. He looked over at Torcho who was leaning heavily on Huntress' shoulder; the two smiled at one another.

Beth slowly opened the dungeon door and peeked through, seeing that the coast was still clear she signaled for everyone to follow her out. Furnius raised a brow at the pair of unconscious guards that had been placed against the wall but said nothing. The quartet crept through the halls, edging around sleepy looking guards and doing their best to make as little noise as possible. Their progress stopped when Furnius stood still, his face looking up toward the ceiling. Beth and Huntress followed suit but could find nothing of interest, although they could both hear a bit of commotion happening on the floor above them.

Furnius gave a hiss, "Its sssunrissse."

"Damn, we need to get out of here."

The group started rushing through the halls, throwing caution to the wind for they were out of time. They turned the corner sharply and stopped, the group had almost run face first into a small group of guards. For a single second both groups stared at one another before Beth moved forward and gave a quick punch to a guard in the front. It acted as a domino effect for when that guard fell, the others fell with him. "Move!" She said simply, and the group was jogging, the two woman pulling the weak males behind them by the hand.

Huntress flicked her eyes over to Beth; she was starting to breath just as raggedly as she had that night in the forest. They couldn't keep running like this, gritting her teeth she took a look around and spotted a vent in the wall. _Worth a shot._

"In here." She called and opened the vent.

"You can't be serious!" Said Torcho incredulously.

"Very."

"Better than all of this running, I feel like my lung is about to collapse. Besides won't the vents eventually lead outside?" Puffed Beth, not noticing the way Huntress frowned at her choice of words.

Guards could be heard coming down the hall, one complaining about a punch to his face.

"No time, move your buttsss." Hissed Furnius.

By the time the unit of guards had come down the hall, they were long gone.

_88888_

Flame King awoke to the various sounds of his palace in the midst of panic, shouts included "Flame Princess has returned!" "The prisoners have escaped!" and "Wake the King!" among others.

_So it has come to this_, he thought a little ruefully. He had a feeling something of this caliber would occur after hearing of Jarlath's demise at the hands of his "daughter's" fiery rage-although the absence of his prisoners was an unwanted surprise. The looks of pride and fear in his informants' eyes as they told him about her inferno said it had truly been spectacular.

When a servant finally managed to fumble his way into the King quarter's said monarch was already dressed in his armor and waiting. "Sire, Flame Princess has returned and wishes to duel you for right of the throne! She also has the human hero Finn, and his dog friend with her!" The monarch narrowed his eyes, it couldn't be…

"Anything else?" The servant started to tremble just slightly, "She called you her uncle…sire." So it was, that little traitor Flambo had gotten to her then. Well then…he might not get to live to see his Flame Kingdom turn good after all if his _niece_ decided to return the favor for what he did to her father.

With a straight back the ruler of the Kingdom of Flames and Fire walked out of his rooms and through his castle; his panicking servants, guards and even some courtiers were calmed somewhat upon seeing him and flocked to him as he passed by. Various reports of numerous guards being found unconscious throughout the castle and descriptions of the sorceress Huntress Wizard and another woman running through the castle with the prisoners were told to him as he made his way to his throne room. As he made his way in he noted his real children were already there and conversing with Flame Princess. All turned in his direction when he was announced, none of the young people looked happy to see him. He cast his eyes over the group, Flame Princess seemed to ooze regal power as she stood in a pair of orange pants and a red shirt, her hair done up in a formal-and battle ready- up do. Flambo stood at her feet. The boy hero at her side was still and at the ready, Flame King raised a brow at the metal arm.

_That's new_, he thought. He raised a brow at his Challenger and her meager back up. With both a plan forming in his mind and a smirk curling his mouth the Flame King walked to his throne and had a seat, as he did so he covertly signaled his guards to file in. He then greeted his challenger, "Hello Flame Princess. What a lovely surprise it is to see you."

The young woman narrowed her eyes at him, "Hello Uncle, I trust you heard what happened to Jarlath?"

"Yes, and I suppose you're here to threaten to do the same to me?"

"Only if you refuse to give me the throne, I like destroying evil things." Her words were strong and confident; she was prepared to do what was necessary. Flame King was both impressed and wary, his brother would be proud of the woman his girl had become.

"Well I have some bad news for you my dear…" He trailed off and got to his feet, he signaled his guards, who immediately leapt forward to surround Finn and Jake but they did not attack. The air grew tense, "This fight is between you and me, how about we leave your friends out of it?"

"Father stop this!" Both turned to Searle, Flame King's oldest child. He stood in front of his younger siblings protectively, "I do not wish to see you extinguished, please just relinquish the crown! It was never yours to have in the first place!"

Oh his neutrally aligned son, he had never liked how he had gotten the crown. Foolish boy was a rising star in the army and still didn't understand that politics sometimes called for bloodshed. He would never learn.

"Stay out of this boy, and keep your younger siblings out of the way." He then turned back to Flame Princess, "Well?" She took the bait and leapt forward, fire power growing in her hands. He met her head on; fire in his own hands.

The Royal Duel had begun.

As the two grappled, everyone else in the room watched; if either of Flame Princess' allies were to interfere she-as the Challenger- would immediately lose and be at the mercy of the Flame King according to official law.

Suddenly he twisted about and tossed her across the room, but FP was ready and deftly landed on the floor. Flame King laughed, "Nice moves, but let's see how you move around this-guards capture the heroes!"

And then it was chaos, guards swarmed over FP's entourage as she charged toward her uncle. She could hear the sounds of their battle behind her as she concentrated on dodging Flame King's attacks.

Above everyone's heads a vent shaft shook and sagged a bit from the weight of four people struggling through the cramp space. "Any more bright ideasss, _professssor_?" Hissed Furnius from behind Huntress Wizard. Torcho and Beth looked back at the two and watched Huntress give a growl.

"I don't see you coming up with any _bright ideas_!" A long creak could be heard from the metal around them. "Um, brother I think-"

"Quiet matchstick, big people are talking." Grouched the sorceress; Beth stared on as Torcho gave a grumble and the two continued to bicker. Her brows furrowed as the creak came again but louder this time, she felt the metal begin to dip. "Guys! I think you should continue this later! When we're not about-"

"Not now woman-" Began Furnius but he didn't get to finish, for that was when the seams of the vent finally gave out and opened beneath them. They all fell through with a large yell and landed in a heap on a large group of guards that had been starting to overwhelm Finn and Flambo.

"Now that's what I call an entrance!" Quipped the little flambit.

Beth groaned, that had done no favors for her side, she heard a hissing groan underneath her and realized she was sitting on Furnius. She quickly got up, "Sorry!"

"Yeah, yeah." He grouched as he rose to his feet. The former prince gave a look around as the humans had their little reunion and his brother and the wizard righted themselves. Many of the guards –and courtiers he noticed-were staring at them in confusion, those guards that weren't were busy fighting off a large orange dog creature. He recognized him as the other imbecile that had gotten him imprisoned.

He looked over to his side and watched Flame Princess and Flame King Fight. He stared; she was shooting blasts of blue and white flame at him as she yelled at him for lying to her and locking her away. Only his father had ever been able to burn hot enough to produce blue flames…and her face. She had matured…and looked just like his mother.

"It can't be." He hissed softly. "Furnius, look out!" He turned just in time to dodge a spear thrust from a guard, _seems they've recovered from their stupor_ he thought mildly. With a quick twist and toss Furnius made his opponent crash into another guard and got himself a weapon. He turned and gave Beth-who had warned him- a nod before joining the fray. He was weak but he could still fight, the exercise felt wonderful after ages of being forced in a cell.

Invigorated by the sudden appearance of his sister and the princes Finn gave a large yell of "ADVENTURE TIME!" and threw himself into the fight with his both Beth and Jake at his back. At his cry Flame Princess risked a look over and gave a grin at her boyfriend and the sight of her once-cousins fighting with him. She had met and talked to them a few times, they were actually rather nice. She was thrust out of her thoughts when a fiery fist came at her head; she dodged and sent a blast at her laughing opponent. "It would not be good for you to get distracted, I won't go easy on you girl!"

Flame Princess huffed; "Then how about we go somewhere less distracting?" With that she charged forward and with a blast of fire power grabbed the King by the front of his armor and crashed through the ceiling and out into the open world. All movement stopped at this and everyone stared at the open hole.

"Guards stand down!" Everyone turned to the current crown prince of the Flame Kingdom, Searle. "I said stand down! At the moment I am the highest authority figure in the room, and I command for you to stand down." No one moved, then with a multitude of grumbles the guards did as they were told.

"Now get the injured out of here." Searle's voice brooked no argument. As the flame guards packed it in Lady Rainicorn flew in the hole in the ceiling and said something excitably. Finn looked to Jake for a translation, he turned to him accordingly. "She says they're making their way toward the coastline and the Isle of Steam." Finn's eyes widened and a chill went down his spine, "Jake we have to go, fire and water don't mix!"

"Right-o." The two mobilized with Jake enlarging and Finn jumping on his back, both turned when they felt a weight fall on Jake's back behind Finn. "Beth!"

She grinned at her brother, "I'm coming with you; out of everyone here I'm the only one with any sea experience." She turned and yelled down, "Huntress stay here and keep an eye on things. If anything happens I have my calling mirror." The sorceress frowned and looked like she wanted to argue but instead huffed and said "Fine, but you better not die you donk."

Beth laughed, "I won't." With that the trio lifted out of the room, before leaving Jake gave a quick nuzzle to Lady and said, "Just stay here with Huntress sweetie. We'll come back when everything's done." Lady nodded her head and waved them goodbye as they followed the trail left behind by the battle of Flame Princess and Flame King.


	10. Battle Royale

_Here we are my lovelies! Hope you like it! I wrote the majority of this while listening to __Alexandre Desplat - The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe, Parts 1-7 on repeat, music from the wonderful movie Moonrise Kingdom. I think it goes with the chapter haha. _

_A/N: I did my best with Flambo's accent and Artistic license on describing Beth's boat skills._

_Late A/N: short "8888" page breaks mean events are happening at the same time. Long breaks means scene happens hella later. Sorry if this confused anyone._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing! Enjoy!_

Ten- Battle Royal

Flames, bright blue and white flames, the fiery landscape was reacting to their battle and flaring up accordingly. They surrounded the fire elemental Maddock Sula, otherwise known as the Flame King. His niece stood before him, a glorious example of contained rage and power. Both had grown to enormous size as they made their way to the coastline and Steamy Lagoon, the body of water that surrounds the Isle of Steam before the lands opened up half way between the Sea of Sure Death and the Squid Ink Sea. He could feel himself tiring, and actually feeling the heat of Flame Princess' flames. He had to think of something and quickly.

A white, fiery fist knocked into his chest and he stumbled backwards, the back of his foot hit liquid; but since the usual temperature of the water was just below boiling point it did not really affect him or weaken his flames. Flame King looked behind him and grinned when he saw the thick, fog-like steam that floated above the water. He turned that grin to his opponent before shrinking down to regular size and disappearing into the gloom. The Princess of the Flame Kingdom gave out a frustrated sound, but followed suit. She gave another as she flew through the white haze and could make nothing out, but then she paused, for an idea had formed in her head. Giving a quick twirl she sent out her heat sense, she blinked at the results she got.

First Flame King was out in front of her toward the Isle, but then there was something made of wood, metal and _bone_ and carrying life coming quickly toward her from a ways away. She frowned for a moment but let it be, if it proved to be her problem she planned to deal with it later. She flew forward at full speed and rammed into her opponent, who let out a grunt of surprise. They grappled and twisted in the air, flames shot holes in the steam around them and warmed the air which in turn warmed the water. The result was a thicker steam cover; Flame Princess narrowed her eyes and managed to move her head enough to the side to avoid a blast of fire. She felt the energy go past her face and watched as Flame King thrust his hand forward; she had an idea.

Flame Princess grabbed at Flame King's still outstretched hand and pulled him forward, she meant to pull and twist him around to disorient him and then throw him up and send a large blast of fire and be done with it but before she had managed to even get a good grip Flame King twisted about and started laughing. She was starting to hate that laugh; she gritted her teeth as she was gripped and twisted about instead.

"You think you can use that move on me girl? I'm the one that taught it to you!" He jeered at her.

A fist rammed itself into her gut, hard. The air whooshed from her fiery lungs and her concentration momentarily fled. That was all the chance her opponent needed. Suddenly she was tossed through the air and then heat hit her back, propelling her forward. She flew over the Isle, still too stunned from the hit to do more than flail about. She watched as she sailed over the other side of the lagoon and realized with horror that she was headed straight for the cold sea. This was enough to snap her back to reality. She stopped her involuntary flight just as she popped out of the cloud of steam. Flame Princess looked out over the sea for a moment before turning around; she glared at the white haze before her and tried to guess where Flame King would reappear.

She didn't have to wait long.

Out of the cloud Flame King rose, large and burning bright. He took power from the heat around him; Flame Princess backed up but instead of growing she flew up and started peppering his face with large, blue fire balls. He grunted and did his best to both block her blasts and grab at FP.

Finn watched all of this through his sister's binoculars, with a grip on her skull and claw figure head he leaned out a bit. He watched as his girlfriend left a trail of blue and white flame behind her as she soared through the air. His heart thumped in his chest, he didn't know whether to be excited or worried. He prayed to Glob that FP would win. He took an odd comfort in having Flambo resting upon his shoulder; the little guy had hitched a ride when no one was looking.

He shifted his feet with the boat, and did his best to ignore the choppy sea water all around them. "How is she doing?" Yelled Beth from the rutter, there was a fair bit of wind that muffled sound and she had to keep a steady hand or her boat would be at the mercy of the wind and her sails. She snapped her eyes up at said things and was content to see the various repairs were holding for now, she was happy her boat had been spelled to repel flame by Flambo. She had a feeling it would be needed.

"She's blasting him." Reported Finn over his shoulder, he took another look and spoke loudly. "She's flying around him and he can't catch her." Jake looked on as his brother narrated and watched as a blue blip few around and around the large figure of Flame King. He frowned; this was going on for too long. As a magical being-never mind that PB continued to say it was a mutation- he knew all about how prolonged use of any and all magical abilities took their toll on the body and at this point the two combatants either had to have amazing stamina or be running on fumes. He just hoped that the princess could last long enough to win this.

He didn't know how right he was. For, even with her impressive anger at the Flame King fueling Flame Princess' powers, she could feel herself begin to tire. And knew it would only be a matter of time before her strength would give out, and it was not a very long one. Her flames always had the tendency to burn very hot but only for a short while.

_There must be a way to end this!_ She thought furiously. As she flew once more over her opponent's head Flame Princess noticed how the air and steam moved with her and wrapped around the Flame King. He growled and furiously waved his hands, moving the steam around him more and out of his face. She flew a bit away and watched the scene; she then turned her face toward the sea and felt the cold winds go by her and hit the wall of steam behind her.

_Hot and cold air…and the freezing sea…_

_That's it!_ She grinned. Determination settled onto her face as she began to fly about her uncle. She raised the temperature of her flames, heating the air around her and pulling the cold air toward her. Flame King growled and tried to catch her, turning with her as he did so. Not at all aware he was helping her with her plans; she began to gain speed and the air and steam moved with her.

"What is she doing?" Asked Jake, "She's putting in the killin' blow, that's what she's doing." answered Flambo with much gusto.

"I'm sorry, did you say '_killing blow'_?" Asked Beth incredulously.

The flambit turned to her and nodded his head, "That I did sweet cheeks, that's the way of the Fire Kingdom. You sees succession happens when and only when the old ruler kicks the bucket or secedes. Power then passes on to the next in line. All citizens feel the change, so there's never a mistake. Since those two are havin' a Royal Duel, if Flame Princess wins she's then the next in line and therefore the new Queen. And to win she has to defeat-an' I mean _defeat_- the Flame King."

Beth stared, her blue hair whipped around her and her grip tightened around the handle of the rutter.

"So it's a duel to the death." She said simply.

"Now she's gettin' it." He said to Jake and Finn conversationally. She turned to them and watched as they glanced at one another and then looked back at her. "It's not the way we would like it, but that's the way of the Fire Kingdom. And the only way Flame Princess really could win the throne for herself." Said Jake Helplessly.

"Besides, he's evil. What else do you do with evil?" Beth looked at her brother, at his straight shoulders and listened to his matter of fact tone.

"I don't like it."

"No one does." He told her.

They all stared at one another for a moment and then all four turned their attention back to the Duel. They watched as air swirled around the Flame King, faster and faster. Flame Princess was but a spot of bright light through the moving steam, Flame King visibly struggled as he was being involuntarily twirled about. He tried to catch his opponent but his hands always came up empty, he dared not to shrink down for he feared he would be at the mercy of FP's whirl wind even more. He yelled as he began to move faster and faster, everything was a steam hazed blur, he could not escape.

He had not even realized they had moved until suddenly everything stopped turning and he found himself falling, spat out toward the sea. His eyes widened and he only had time for a garbled shriek before he hit, the sea rolled and boiled at his touch, the boat of onlookers rocked and swayed as it rode the waves. Flame King spluttered as he resurfaced, his form was cooling and disappearing. He quickly shrank, he raised his hand to the sky and felt something fiery and hot grasp it. Flame Princess pulled Flame King half way out of the water, and looked down at her defeated opponent.

"Do you yield?" He stared hard at her; the swirling winds fanned the flames of her being around her. She was a commanding figure, showing him mercy in complete regal glory to voice his surrender with dignity. Her true nature was shining through at last; his kingdom would prosper under her good reign. As much as he hated to admit it, _seems you had the last laugh after all brother. I could not change her._ He thought.

"I yield to you, the new Queen of the Fire Kingdom and the ancient Burning Lands." Flame Princess gasped as she felt the right of regency flow through her, power and connection to the Fire Kingdom coursed along her blazing veins. It settled into her very core. She was Flame Queen now. She looked down at the former ruler; just one more thing to do.

"What was my true name meant to be?" She asked.

"Elinore, he would have named you Elinore Justine Sula."

"Thank you, may you find peace in the 36th Dead world." With a final look at the man she had once called father she let go. Maddock Sula gasped as he hit the water but did not struggle as his being was doused. He sank below the churning waves and closed his eyes.

_The Flame Kingdom will endure, _he thought. He let himself go.

For that was the way of the Fire Kingdom.

Flame Queen watched until she felt the Fire of her uncle's soul disappear. She sagged, she was so tired. She turned her head when she heard shouting. She slowly flew over and raised her eyebrows at the sight of Finn, Jake and Beth. As Finn put down the binoculars Flambo jumped off his shoulders, the hero then moved forward.

"You won." He said simply as she touched down onto the boat and cooled down to her normal red and orange coloring. They smiled at one another.

"I did; I am the new Flame Queen." She said triumphantly before collapsing to her knees upon the deck. "Flame Queen!" Shouted Finn as he came forward and placed his –thankfully-still shielded arms around her. She gave a tired grin, "I'm fine, just exhausted." She looked up at his face for a moment and then leaned forward to place a quick kiss on his lips," And call me Elinore." She turned to Jake, Beth and Flambo, who were watching the scene. "All of you, please, call me Elinore. That's my real name." She included the little flambit because he was the one to tell her the truth; he had always been aligned with her more than her father. He would make a good adviser and spy.

Finn flushed and resettled them so he was leaning on the mast and Elinore leaning on him. Flambo ran forward and settled himself on her lap, at rest with his Queen. Beth looked at the scene and gave a small sigh, _that's the way of the world I guess._

All was silent for a bit and then Jake clapped his hands, gathering all of their attention. "Okay, I think everything is done here, let's move this tub around and get back to the Fire Kingdom."

Beth nodded her head, "Right, hang on landlubbers! The Sorceress of the sea will get you out of here." She yelled, trying to lighten the mood. She couldn't help but giggle to herself at the title she used, it was something she gave herself while out at sea; she had yelled it triumphantly after surviving a particularly crazy storm while lying punch drunk on the deck.

She aimed the boat for the opening to Steamy Lagoon, she planned to dock her boat at the mainland shore-her boat was heat proofed anyway so it should be fine- and planned to come back for it later and place it in the original cove she had had it. She didn't want anything happening to her only way back across the water, for she did intend to return one day.

As they began to near the first strip of land a large shape began to swim next to them, Beth narrowed her eyes. "What's that on our port side?" She yelled at Jake, he blinked. "What?"

"The left! The left side, something big is swimming next to us under the water!"

As Jake looked over Finn heard a ringing come from his pack, Beth noticed him shifting and pulling a receiver out of it and placing it between him and Elinore so they could both listen.

She turned back to Jake, She saw he had stuck his face in the water and was now pulling it out. He had a wide eyed look to him. _Crap _

"What is it?" She asked. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Finn.

"Hey! Princess Bubblegum just called; Ice King's gone crazy again. She thinks it's from all the activity from the Flame Kingdom. He's going on an Icy rampage through Ooo and is headed there right now. Marceline is following him but she wants us to get there too!"

"We have to get to the Fire Kingdom!" Yelled the new ruler next to him; Beth began to tell them an answer but was cut off as something large shot out of the water. She grunted as she kept hold of the boat, making sure to turn it so it would not hit nose first into the now dangerously close sand bar. She idly noticed Jake quickly wrapping around the fire elementals and Finn as large waves splashed upon the boat.

"Son of a –"

"BLLLAAARRGGGHHHH! I am the Dragon of the Sea of Sure Death! Who dares use the remains of my kinsman for this vessel!?" roared a large, deep voice.

Beth stared up at the beast and cursed, he looked like a larger and scaly version of that damn sea beast. His scaly skin gleamed bright crimson in the afternoon sun and fire flared from his mouth at every word he said.

She began to feel a sense of Deja vu.

She flicked her eyes to the others and made quick motions for them to make a break for it and then yelled "I am! But he had it coming! Jerk called himself the 'Terrible Beast of the Open Sea', he wouldn't leave me alone and damaged my boat while I was stuck in the middle of the ocean! Even trade after all the trouble he caused me!"

"You vile little creature, you will pay for not just accepting your fate and then dishonoring his remains!"

The dragon gave a mighty roar and threw a blast of fire at Beth; she calmly took it for she had yet to take her pendant off. The water around the boat boiled and released steam, under its cover she looked over and angrily motioned for everyone to keep moving. When Finn shook his head- everyone nodded in agreement- she repressed the urge to scream and turned back to the dragon.

"You'll have to do better than that you big lizard! You really want to fight me let me get on land and we'll see if you can avenge your kin! Just let my passengers be on their way."

"Are none of your blood?" He asked and began smelling the air. Wanting to distract him she quickly said "No! I was just giving them a quick ride! Let them pass, you're fight is with me!"

He gave a roar but said "Very well!" She quickly moved to drop anchor and ran to the sand bar, her sword in her hand.

"Beth what are you doing?!" asked Jake as she passed him. She quickly turned and said "Freeing the way, you guys need to go stop Ice King_. I will catch up_. Now get out of here!"

"But-" Began Finn but she stopped him, "No buts! Listen to me, I took on his bro, I can take him." She gave a familiar grin.

And then she ran off toward the outer edge of the sandbar, the angry Dragon following behind.

"There goes one crazy yet smart dame." Everyone turned to Flambo, "What? It's true!"

Finn frowned, "Dude, that's my sister!"

"You're point?" He began to answer back but Jake interrupted him.

"Hey, are we going or not?" He was already on the other end of the sand bar and had shifted into a raft shape.

Still frowning, Finn helped Elinore to cross the way and sit in the Jake-boat. Flambo jumped in behind her, Finn looked over and saw Beth make a slash at the dragon's face. He laughed as she missed.

"I don't like this." He said. "Neither do I but we gotta go, we have to stop Ice King. Plus Beth can handle herself." Finn hummed at Jake's words and got in. Elinore grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze but said nothing, returning the same silent support as he had given to her a little while earlier.

He squeezed back. Finn watched his sister until the steam obscured his vision and all was grey. He then turned and watched as Flambo lead the way across the lagoon.


	11. Damn

_Whew! Been a while, sorry to whoever reads this. Also short chapter but that's how it goes. _

_Remember: short 8888 page breaks means that scenes are happening at about the same time and long 8888888888888888 breaks mean whatever is happening is hours later! Now enough of my blabber._

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. R&R and Enjoy!_

Eleven Damn

Ice King laughed as he zapped another section of forest and trolls, leaving living icicles in his wake. He had a large crazed grin on his face, which quickly turned down when he heard a voice next to him.

_Damn, she's here. _He thought.

"Simon! Stop this!" He turned and saw that vampire woman; she wore a black hoody and pants with boots and the hood up. Lucky for her it was turning into a rather cloudy day and sunset was approaching. He sneered, Ice King had managed to make Simon put on the crown when he was alone and witnessing all the activity from the Fire Kingdom. There was a sizable amount of distance between the two kingdoms but it was easily visible with all of the energy flaring through it. He had reminded him of what happened last time that Flame Girl got worked up, his realm had almost completely melted away and mentioned it might happen again.

Oh he had fought, even shouted at the crown and at Ice King to leave him be-that had caused the pale woman to come find them- but Ice King had won out. Now Simon- all of Simon- was trapped within the Ice and Snow. Buried so deep not even that dreaming human would be able to reach him again, he couldn't believe she had managed to do it before but good old Gunther had come and helped him. It was always good to have a Gunther around.

"Simon!" Marceline yelled; she flew in front of him to bar his way.

"Move out of my way pale woman! Everything must be frozen!" And there should be princesses, but he would get to that later.

"Simon, come on! This isn't you Ice King!" Marceline floated forward and reached her hands out toward the old man. She was fighting back tears at seeing him more manic than he had ever been. She should have taken that damn crown from him the moment she had heard him talking to it but she didn't know what would happen. Now it looked like the lesser of two evils.

She gnawed on her lip a bit and thought, _Dammit!_

"You waste your non-breath vampire! Simon is no longer here! He's safe within the snow. Now it is only I, The Ice King! The Glorious One!"

Marceline furrowed her brows, Glorious one? She thought. Simon had never called himself that before…could this truly be the crown talking?

"Who or what are you? What do you mean Simon is 'in the snow'?" The male before her laughed.

"I am the one as old as the frost and the winter. I am the last of the primeval gods to remain on this plane. I am the true Lord of the Ice Crown; I am the Glorious One, I am Ullr! Simon's consciousness has finally been pushed back. Now get out of my way pale woman! You will not stop me from freezing the abominable lands of Fire and Heat and the rest of the lands of Ooo. It will finally all be mine!"

With that he did a quick movement and flew away from her, his manic cackle echoed back to her. Marceline could only stare after him. _No, no, no, no, no. Simon's gone? 'Pushed back?'_

Her hands trembled as she thought of the ramifications if this was true, this meant there truly was a spirit within the crown, an ancient one at that. And it had pushed Simon into his own head; this Ullr was now wearing her Simon as a blurping meat suit!

"No fucking way!" She yelled to no one in particular. With that Marceline fisted her hands and flew after Ice King, she would not leave Simon all alone again. He had made her do it once; she wasn't going to do it again.

_88888_

Huntress grumbled under her breath. It had been quite a bit of time since the pulse had gone through the citizens of the Fire Kingdom and power had returned to the house of the Elder Sula. As soon as it had happened Furnius has taken command from his smiling cousins and now the whole kingdom was waiting in anticipation for their new Queen. The princess had won, but why hadn't Beth called her? If all was running smoothly why hadn't she notified her yet?

_Damn woman better call me soon, _she thought darkly.

To make things worse Lady Rainicorn had received a message from her princess via light-wave communication that the old fart Ice King had apparently flipped out and was making his way here, all the while freezing various pieces of Ooo as he went. Now she was sitting on the ground next to the large throne, Flame King's brood and Torcho were sitting and talking with her. As best as they could to help calm her down. Guards and courtiers talked, as they were wont to do.

Honestly, could the guy have an episode and bother everyone some other time?

_Crazy old wizard_, she thought exasperatedly.

She wasn't left to her thoughts long though; she looked over as she heard someone lean against the wall with her. She had thought she would be left in peace for a while if she hid in an alcove of the main audience room but it seemed it was not meant to be.

It was Furnius, he was looking away from her and his expression was neutral.

"You need to ssstop worrying, I'm sssure they're fine. What we really mussst concern ourssselvesss with isss the reportsss of the Ice King laying wassste to Ooo asss he racesss here to extinguisssh usss."

The sorceress scoffed, "Ice King isn't that much of a threat; I don't care what that horse woman's princess says. Just give him a quick hit in the head to knock the crown off and he'll go down like the fool he is." Her tone was harsh.

Furnius was looking at her now, a frown was set upon his face.

"You're really worried for her, aren't you? You weren't ever thisss worried for me even when I wasss your b-."

"Yeah, well I didn't let myself get really attached to people back then. Even if I was dating them." She said quickly, interrupting him.

He blinked, surprised. "Ssso you do care for thisss human." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yes I do. She…she's become important to me. We've had adventures together and despite just being a weak non-wizard and being new to Ooo she's never really been afraid, she just grins and runs into the new adventure." She wasn't looking at him now, she had turned and looked over the room.

"She's had my back more times in the short while I've known her than most people I've known for years. Even you." She turned to him now, but her voice wasn't accusatory. "She crossed a sea into the unknown and fought monsters to find her lost family. I've known few people who would go to such lengths for their kin." Here she gave him a small smile. She had always understood his motivations and plans towards his uncle, her support had seen him through a lot.

She turned back toward the room and leaned against the wall once more.

"She is friendly and open to everyone until they are a threat. She is my friend. And I can't help but feel something is wrong." Her voice held a desperate tone.

Furnius' brows rose, few had ever managed to gain the respect and comradeship of Huntress Wizard. He placed a hand upon her shielded shoulder.

"I'm sssure ssshe isss fine." She didn't respond but didn't shake off his hand either. He took it as a good sign.

Their moment was interrupted when a commotion started with in the great hall. The group had returned, and the denizens of the Fire Kingdom were celebrating the return of their new ruler. The two hurried over to the group, Furnius to congratulate his new queen and sister and Huntress to tell off a certain woman for worrying her.

_88888_

Blood oozed around her fingers as she uselessly pressed her hand to the largest wound on her abdomen, the waves lapping at her hips were turning red. Beth looked over and saw her opponent; he lay limp in the water. Her sword, that wonderful sword that Huntress Wizard had given her, was buried to the hilt in his skull. His body was covered in the still bleeding gashes she was able to make, and his teeth were red with her blood from when he had managed to get a hold of her and pick her up in his mouth-big mistake. Now he lay on his side, beached in the sand. The waves flowing around him; she wondered if she would be going where he had or if she would remain on this plane as a ghost, a phenomenon she had only ever seen in Ooo.

She looked over to the horizon; the sun was above the water and was on its way to slipping under the place where sea met sky. She wondered if she would be gone before it completely disappeared. Clouds cluttered the darkening sky.

_Damn, this sucks._ She though belatedly. She looked back at the dragon, at least the others got away. She gave a cough and felt the blood drip from her mouth, she took a ragged breath. Her lung had been punctured again -along with several other things. Beth shifted against the side of her boat, feeling the familiar wood against her back.

She didn't want to die, she had never been overly afraid of death-she had mentally prepared herself for the possibility when she first started her journey toward Ooo- but a cold, unfamiliar acceptance was filling her.

Or was that just the feeling of her body going cold from blood loss and her brain not letting her freak out about it?

She sat thinking about that for a while.

She looked up when she heard footsteps coming toward her on the beach, she furrowed her brows. It took her until the person stopped in front of her to understand what she saw. Before her stood a man-it looked like a man, but he had a –horse?-skull for a face and wore white clothes and a white hat. She spied a little brown satchel strapped around his shoulders.

"Who the…hell are you?" Despite everything she had seen, this guy really creeped her out, especially since she had an idea who he was. The man chuckled.

"Well, my dear. I'm Death." He crouched down to be eye level with her. "I must admit I was expecting to collect your brother before getting you, but that's the world for you."

She stared at him, a tear rolled down her face. She half whimpered half growled out, "Oh _lovely_, I really _am_… going to die."

Finally a bit of fear crackled down her spine.

She coughed. More blood spilled on to her lips. He looked at her a moment and said "You know I don't usually make personal appearances anymore but I owe your father a favor."

_"My father?"_ She rasped in surprise.

"Yes, he was a good man, he did me a solid a number of years ago I never paid back. Anyway as a favor to him I'm here to make your transition a little easier, without my presence your death will languish on for another hour. Now it will be only about five more minutes, and believe me when I say my depriving you of time is more a blessing than a curse."

She stared at him; he was helping her die more smoothly?

"Why don't you make…it so I don't die?!" She ground out. A few more tears spilled from her eyes.

He gave a soft and surprisingly sad laugh, "For the same reason I let every entity in this universe die: because it is your time. There is no changing that."

She could only stare at him.

_Damn. I'm sorry guys._


End file.
